LIBMRY OF CONGRESS. # 



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I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. | 



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THE BUGLE CALL; 



^0^1^ 



OR, 



A SUMMONS TO WORK IN CHRIST'S 
ARMY. 



BY 



A VOLUNTEER NURSE. 



^W. s. 1<^^._,^ 




AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY 

150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. 



/ 5 , ■ 






Entered accord^nq to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by the 
AMERICAN Tract Society, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress 
at Washington. 



Dear Reader, did you ever hear the bugle 
call in camp? If so, did it not rouse all the 
martial spirit within you to fall into the 
ranks, and do your duty? Thus I felt, when 
I heard it. 

And now I write this little volume with 
the earnest desire and hope, that all who 
read it may be so stirred by its martial 
sounds, that they will no longer be able to 
resist the summons to "fall into the ranks," 
and do their duty in the Army of the Lord. 

" The bugle call, the bugle call, 
That sound ouce more I hear ; 
Rouse, brothers, comrades, friends, arouse, 
Fall in ! the foe is near.' 



Dedicated to the memory of one 
Whose life was " living for Christ," 
Whose death was " dying in Christ," 
And whose dying injunction was, 
"Work for Christ." 



CHAPTER I. 
Tlie Embarkation page 7 

CHAPTEE II. 
At Fortress Monroe 22 

CHAPTER III. 

At City Point - 32 

CHAPTER IV. 
OnDavids' Island 48 

CHAPTER V. 

The Daily Eoutine 04 

CHAPTER VI. 
A New Eecruit ■ 75 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Double Tent 89 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE VIII. 
In tlie Pavilions 100 

• CHAPTER IX. 

The Two Davids 113 

CHAPTER X. 
Tlie Young Physician 130 

CHAPTER XI. 
Farewell to the Island 140 

CHAPTER XII. 
Conclusion -»- 150 




THE BUGLE CALL 



CHAPTER I 




THE EMBARKATION. 

;ROBABLY no woman who 
took any part in our late 
civil war will ever forget the 
strong impressions left upon her 
mind by what she then saw and 
heard. My own impressions are as 
vivid as though it were but yesterday 
that I had passed through those stirring 
events ; and those which I am now at- 
tempting to relate will be wholly and 
entirely true, precisely as I saw and felt 



8 THE BUGLE CALL. 

them, save that, after the lapse of more 
than eight years, I can scarcely do them 
justice. 

My early experiences were somewhat 
peculiar, I had long desired to go the 
front as an army nurse, but circum- 
stances beyond my control had prevent- 
ed. Since our national struggle had 
commenced, I had been drinking deeply 
of the cup of sorrow, and now believed 
that not only would my sorrow be di- 
minished by seeing it in the light of the 
heavier woes and sorrows of others, but 
that I might be able to comfort them by 
''the comfort wdierewith I had been 
comforted of Grod ;" and I longed so 
earnestly to preach the gospel of the 
loving Saviour to those who were en- 
gaged in this great struggle, that I could 
no longer forbear. 

God made the way plain for me to go ; 
and when my application was made to 



THE BUGLE CALL. 9 

the examining physician of the United 
States Sanitary Commission, and the 
simple questions were put as to my qual- 
ifications as a nurse, then did I realize 
the sacrifices attending the work. And 
was I quite willing to encounter them ? 
''I am willing to die in the w^ork, if 
necessary," I replied. Then, "Will you 
go to-morrow on the clipper ship St. 
Mark ? " Accordingly, on the morrow I 
started. Yet, on looking back now, I can 
see that at that time I had not a full 
realization of the work before me ; only 
an intense desire to preach a living, lov- 
ing Saviour to dying men. 

Our vessel lay in New York harbor, 
near the Battery. Accompanying us 
was a large Sound steamer, which had 
been fitted up for hospital purposes by 
the Sanitary Commission, and was to 
tow us out. I had been formally in- 
stalled into office as volunteer nurse on 



10 THE BUGLE CALL. 

the St. Mark, and had been properly in- 
troduced by the physicians. We were 
about separating from the steamer, be- 
side which we had hitherto been lying, 
when suddenly I exclaimed, "Shall we 
go all the way with the steamer?" 
"Probably not,'' was the reply. "She 
will go at least to Harrison's Landing, 
while we shall remain at Fortress Mon- 
roe." Great disappointment must have 
been depicted upon my countenance, for 
one of our kind, gentlemanly officers 
stepped forward and said, "I think yon 
can still go with the steamer if you will 
permit us to jump you over the hurri- 
cane deck ; but we shall have no time 
for introductions." "Anything, any- 
thing," was my hurried response, "so 
that I can go to the front." 

Accordingly the steamer was hailed, 
and I was lifted over the railino;, while the 
kind officer called out, "Dr. M , this 



THE BUGLE CALL. 11 

is Mrs. B , a volunteer nurse, who 

wishes to be transferred to your steam- 
er." Then the vessels parted, and I was 
left standing entirely alone among stran- 
gers. My position was an embarrassing 
one, yet not long was I permitted to 
feel its embarrassment. But a moment 
elapsed before a gentleman stepped for- 
ward, inquiring my name, and with the 
greatest courtesy introduced me to all 
on board. We were no longer strangers. 
Our cause, our work was the same. "We 
had a common country, a common Sav- 
iour. Our party consisted of four fe- 
male nurses besides myself — a party of 
thoroughly earnest-hearted women ; one 
gentleman, of whom no less can be said 
than of the ladies ; twenty-five doctors ; 
and quite a large number of delicate 
soldiers, who were sent on board of the 
Sanitary boats for a few trips, that they 
might recruit in health, and were de- 



12 THE BUGLE CALL. 

tailed as nurses. Thus we started from 
the harbor on a beautiful July morning, 
in the summer of 1862. Now came the 
dreaded sea-sickness. Who of my read- 
ers has ever attempted to resist that ter- 
rible sickness, and with what success? 
It ig so'mething I have no desire to de- 
scribe. Suffice it to say that, after try- 
ing bravely to fight it off, and finding all 
the remedies we had provided ineffec- 
tual, one after another we were obliged 
to yield, and retire to our stale-rooms, 
there to remain until we became ac- 
customed to the rolling motion of the 
vessel. 

Sunday morning came, a bright Sab- 
bath morning as ever shone, and I de- 
termined to rise from my bed and look 
about to see what work the Master had 
for me to do. I tried to make my sick- 
ness an excuse for not rising, for how 
I then dreaded to hemn the work I I 



THE BUGLE CALL. 13 

approached a lad wlio was playing 
checkers, thinking I would find it less 
embarrassing to address a boy than a 
man, and said, "What, my boy, play- 
ing checkers on Sunday?'' A sweet, 
boyish face was upturned to mine. 
"Why, is it Sunday, ma'am?" "Yes, 
had you forgotten it?" "I had. The 
fact is, I have been so long in the army 
I have lost the run of the Sabbaths." 
"Were you ever a Sunday-school boy?" 
The sweet face brightened at this ques- 
tion. " Oh yes, indeed, and loved my 
Sunday-school, and loved my teacher.'^ 
"Where?" " In Brooklyn." " To whose 
Sunday-school class did you belong ? " 

"Why, good, kind Mr. M ; in St. 

Ann's church." "Ah, I know him," I 
replied ; " but what would he say to see 
his Sunday-school boy playing checkers 
on Sunday? And what would good Dr. 
C say? " The bridit youno; face fell 



14 THE BUGLE CALL. 

at this question. "Would you like me 
to go back to Brooklyn and tell Mr. 
M that I saw one of his Sunday- 
school boys playing checkers on Sun- 
day?" ''No, no; oh do not tell him. 
But what shall I do with myself all day 
Sunday? The day is bo long." "Can 
you sing? " I said. "Oh yes, ma'am." 
" Then I will tell you what you can do. 
If you will shut up your checker-board, 
and promise me not to open it again on 

Sunday, I will tell that to Mr. M , 

and I will provide you with a Testament 
and some nice little hymn-books. Call 
all the boys together you can find ; read 
the Testament aloud ; sing all the hymns 
you know together ; then you will soon 
feel as if Sabbath had come back to you 
again. After to-day, count all the days, 
ever remembering that the seventh day 
is the Lord's." 

The checker-board was immediately 



THE BUGLE CALL. l5 

closed, the promise given, and from that 
moment Eobbie and I became fast friends. 

Then I passed on with a heavy heart 
to find other work to do ; for I must con- 
fess I had a nervous horror of approach- 
ing the men with what I supposed they 
would term religious cant. Still, had I 
not come for this very purpose ? Should 
I shrink back now ? Did Jesus shrink 
from bearing the heavy cross for me ? 
Should I shrink from bearino; this lio;ht 
one for him ? No, I must go forward. 
Our cook (a detailed soldier, also) was 
lying sick on one of the cot-beds. I 
said, " Can I do anything for you? Are 
you ill ? '' I suppose he saw the look 
of sympathy in my face, for his heart 
seemed immediately to open to me ; and 
we talked long and quietly, I drawing out 
from him all his sorrows, and in return 
telling him of the tender, gracious Saviour. 

In a day or two he was better ; and 



16 THE BUGLE CALL. 

our head lady-nurse came to me and 
said, "I believe our cook would spend 
half the day making something to tempt 
your appetite. What have you done to 
thus win his regard ? " Ah, it was not 
what I had done, but what the Saviour 
had done that drew that simple-hearted 
man to me. 

Thus encouraged, I passed on, gain- 
ing courage at every step. Dear read- 
er, believe me, few will turn away from 
any appeal made at the proper time, and 
in a proper manner, on behalf of the 
dear, loving Saviour. Few cases there 
are in Avhich the act is not appreciated, 
even if the offer is not accepted. Few 
hearts there are that can quite trample 
on that unselfish, God-man love. It 
must appeal to everything that is noble 
in man's nature. I think in all my ex- 
perience I have never met with more 
than two or three rebuffs. 



THE BUGLE CALL. 17 

Tlirongli the day, occasionally, I heard 
sweet sounds on the steamer, that made 
me think of home and Sunday-school ; 
but being unable to locate them, and ab- 
sorbed in my work, I did not give them 
a second thought. Late in the after- 
noon, when tired, and resting from my 
labors, gratitude arising to God that he 
had put it into my heart to do this work, 
and that he had put it into the hearts of 
the men to receive me so kindly, I heard 
a light step behind me, and a quiet voice 

saying, "Mrs. B , did you hear us?" 

"Hear what, Robbie?" I replied, look- 
ing up. " Wh}^, hear us singing ? We 
boys all sang and read the Bible togeth- 
er. Did not you hear us? Oh, we 
have had such a nice day. Will you 
please, when you go back to Brooklyn, 
see my Sunday-school teacher and tell 
him that?" "I will, Robbie, never fear." 
"And, Mrs. B , when we reach Fort 



18 THE BUGLE CALL. 

Monroe, I expect to see my little broth- 
er, who is a clrummer-boy. I will bring 
him on board to see yon.-' '' What ! " I 
exclaimed in astonishment, "one young- 
er than yon in the service?" "Oh yes, 
ma'am ; and he wouldn't go home for 
anything. Do not say anything against 
it to mother, if you should see her when 
you go home. We both love the service." 
On board of our steamer were several 
colored people. I hardly knew what 
had brought them there. While most 
of the sick people were resting after 
dinner, I drew them together, and, tak- 
ing my Bible and hymn-book, held a 
little religious service. It was touching 
to see with what childlike simplicity 
they received it — all fairly drinking it 
in. I had read of their having such 
vivid imaginations, but never did I real- 
ize it until now. I purposely read to 
them from Revelation of the new Jeru- 



THE BUGLE CALL. 19 

salem. "Ah, clat 's it, clat 's it," they 
would exclaim, " cle golden streets, de 
gates of pearl ; tiiiks I sees him now. 
Lord, may I enter in ! '' 

Yes, Lord, for such thou hast died, 
even for these poor, degraded children 
of thine. Hast thou not said, "Whoso- 
ever receiveth not this gospel as a little 
child, he cannot enter therein''? Yea, 
Lord, we believe many of this suffering 
race shall enter in, and walk the streets 
of the new Jerusalem, clad in garments 
of white, and singing their favorite song 
of " Glory to the Lamb " — the dear Lamb 
who died for them. Thank God, vy e trust 
their days of degradation and darkness 
are over. 

In the evening, one of our doctors, 
who had a keen sense of the ludicrous, 
came for me to go down stairs and hear 
tliem sing, or rather chant, in their own 
peculiar plantation style. It was wild 



20 THE BUGLE CALL. 

enough. My own sense of the ludicrous 
caused me to smile, and jet the scene 
made me sad. They were chanting, in 
a low sort of monotone, words like these, 
as I approached : 

" De milk-white horses, and de milk- 
white horses, and de milk-white horses, 
come go lang wid me. Good mornin', 
John de Baptist, good mornin', John de 
Baptist ; de church-bells are ringing ; 
come go lang wid me." 

This was accompanied with a low 
stamping of the feet, and swaying of the 
body to and fro. Their singing was not 
without some approach to melody, yet it 
was inexpressibly sad to see such ignor- 
ance ; and I asked myself, "Will not 
the Saviour accept the feeble attempts 
of these darkened minds at worship, and 
sometime lead them into the higher and 
purer light of his love?'' I could not 
doubt it. 



THE BUGLE CALL. 



21 



Soon was the Lord to bring to them a 
freedom from bondage, under which, as a 
people, they had long lived ; and might 
we not hope that he, too, would bring 
them out of their deeper moral dark- 
ness, and lead them into the full light 
and freedom of his love — "the liberty 
wherewith Christ maketh his children 
free"? 




CHAPTER II. 




AT FORTRESS MONROE. 

HE following morning we 
reached Fortress Monroe, and 
as that great fortification loomed 
up in the distance, we began to 
realize that w^e were approach- 
ing the seat of war. And now we were 
told to lie by and await further orders. 
At the North, we had as 3^et really seen 
but little of the war ; but few of our sick 
men had been sent home ; and though 
our hearts were filled with anxiety, the 
reality had not seemed to come within 
our very borders, as it had in the homes 
of our Southern people. But here every- 
thing bore the impress of w^ar, bloody, 



THE BUGLE CALL. 23 

fearful war : the tremendous fortification ; 
the Rip Raps in the distance ; gun-boats 
lying here and there, ready for any 
emergency ; the sanitary boats coming 
and going, laden with sick men and hos- 
pital stores ; officials in military dress 
bustling about, as though intent upon 
important business — everything the eye 
rested upon bore written on it in glow- 
ing characters, "war! war!" All, save 
beautiful nature, which never seemed 
more beautiful to me than at that sad 
time. 

We visited the fort, studied all its im- 
plements of war, and returned to our 
vessel, praying God that this struggle 
between brethren might soon come to an 
end. Little did we then dream of the 
many dark days in store for our nation, 
before the conflict would be over, and 
the sun of peace once more shine upon 
our bleeding land. Yes, we were yet to 



24 THE BUGLE CALL. 

be put ill a much hotter furnace; many 
more bitter struggles were we to go to 
through, many more wives were to be 
widowed, many more parents made child- 
less, many more homes to be darkened, 
before we were to come out of the strug- 
gle seven times purified. Thank God, 
we did not know it then, for how could 
we have borne it? Thank God, it is 
over now, and I am writing of the past, 
not the present. God grant that our 
beloved land may never again know 
such a fratricidal struggle. 

' ' The toilsome march, and the deadly fight, 
The prison's gloom and its noisome blight, 
The dread malaria's poisonous breath 
Filled up the ghastly ranks of death. 
Quenched for aye was each life's sweet light, 
Manhood's high noon, youth's promise bright ; 
But the blood that bathed our land anew 
Was Heaven's own purifying dew. " 

After a few days we were ordered to 
go to Harrison's Landing. This was 
welcome news to all. We soon steamed 



THE BUGLE CALL. 25 

up, and were on our way thither, and 
glad were our eyes when they resled on 
the long lines of white tents, looking 
like a city of cottages in the distance. 
Horn antic enough was the scene to look 
upon, but sad indeed were the stories 
that the boys in these tents could have 
breathed in our ears, stories of sickness, 
defeats, and discouragements. But let 
me not forestall my story. To the front 
indeed we went. Almost all of our 
party had friends in the service, and 
some of us very dear friends, who had 
seen death in nearly every form since 
they had bidden us farewell in our homes. 
These officers came with ambulances, and 
giving us a good military escort, took us 
to the very outworks, as far as we could 
go. It was a strange experience this, 
and in spite of our surroundings, we en- 
tered into it with a keen enjoyment. I 
said to one of the officers, " Why do the 



26 THE BUGLE CALL. 

men gaze so earnestly at us? Is tliero 
anything peculiar in our appearance ?" 
"Nothing, except that you are ladies; 
and it is now nearly nine months since 
the eyes of our boys have been glad- 
dened by the sight of a lady." So we 
let them gaze as the}^ pleased, and smiled 
and bowed to all we passed : it was but 
a poor return to give them a smile, when 
they were giving their lives. 

We passed some pleasant da^'s there, 
one day dining in the tent of one of our 
officer friends, and having vvhat they 
called a splendid dinner. What would 
they have said if we had given them 
such a dinner in their own homes, and 
called it splendid ? Notwithstanding, 
we did eat it with a good relish. Again 
we went to the camp to take tea with 
another officer, and waited to see the 
evening parade, to hear the bugle sound, 
and to hear that sound echo and reecho. 



THE BUGLE CALL. 27 

and c(3me up from one camp after another, 
then to see the lights gradually disap- 
pear, and return to our steamer hom^ 
with a new sort of a realization of what 
camp life meant. 

This, however, was the bright side of 
camp life ; those boys in the tents knew 
there was another and a darker side. 
Yet the scene was to me singularly fas- 
cinating. Night after night I would re- 
tire to my state-room as the sun went 
down, to watch from the window what 
was going on in the camp: watch them 
bring the horses down to the river side 
to be watered ; perhaps catch the sougs 
of the men, as they were sitting in their 
tents, or having some sport together. 
Then see that which always brought the 
tears to my eyes^ — the orderlies bring 
down the horses of our officer friends, 
and they mount and ride back to the 
camp. We did not know at what mo- 



28 THE BUGLE CALL. 

ment we might be ordered away ; and 
when they lelt us, it was with the con- 
sciousness that we might never look upon 
their faces again in this world ; the next 
battle might be their last. The morning 
sun would dispel these sad thoughts, as 
we would find ourselves lying quietly 
close to camp. 

But the parting da}^ did come. One 
beautiful Sunday afternoon — never shall 
I forget it — we received government 
orders to go up to City Point, and bring 
home our exchanged prisoners ; and as 
we were going within the hostile lines, a 
gunboat would attend us. This looked 
rather exciting, and I must confess, rather 
pleasing also ; for though we were going 
under a flag of truce, we looked for some 
stray shots through the foliage on the 
banks of the river. No fears, however, 
need to have been entertained, for our 
sail was without an adventure of any 



THE BUGLE CALL. 29 

kind ; but as the eye wandered from one 
side of the river to the other, its banks 
so rich in their summer foliage, we asked 
ourselves, " Why must this, our beauti- 
ful country, be thus devastated by war, 
and brother turn against brother ?" 

. As we neared the Point, what a sight 
met my eyes! How can I describe it? 
My pen shrinks from recording it. I had 
seen soldiers many times, bright, well- 
dressed, healthy-looking soldiers — and 
did not fear their touch — but who were 
these, this motley croAvd on the wharf, 
straining their eyes to watch our ap- 
proach ? Were these, could these be the 
brave men who had left us only a few 
months since, full of life and vigor ? 
These half-clad, wan, neglected-looking 
creatures, men whose touch one would 
shrink from anywhere, can these be our 
husbands, brothers, friends, who so lately 
left us, in the full glow of health and 



30 THE BUGLE CALL. 

iiiauliood ? They are, the}^ are, the very 
same ; and this was the first fruits of 
war, dreadful war ! My heart died within 
me. I shrank back from all these sick- 
ening sights. Now I realized what my 
work was, and I broke down and cried 
like a woman, not like an army nurse. 
"Why did I come," 1 said, "to take 
the place of some strong-minded nurse, 
who could endure that which I am too 
cowardly to meet?" I fled to ray state- 
room, and there poured out my soul in 
prayer to Grod for grace and strength 
to do my dut3^ Then I rose from my 
knees and hastened down stairs, not giv- 
inor myself a moment's time to think. I 
was put in charge of the surgical ward, 
and told to feed my patients with a very 
little food at first, as they were so worn 
by captivity and sickness that the stom- 
ach would endure but little. This I 
did at once : there was no shrinkin.o; 



T-HE BUGLE CALL. 31 

now ; all weakness had fled, and I could 
sit right on the conch of the sufferer, 
who might be indescribably repulsive, 
without a thought that it was distasteful 
to me, only rejoicing that I was permit- 
ted to do this for my countrymen and 
my God. How we worked that Sab- 
bath evening ! for the darkness had set- 
tled upou us before our sick were all 
on board ; and then how we labored 
to make them comfortable. Some said : 
^' Do n't feed me ; I cannot eat with these 
lilthy garments on." "You must, for 
you have not the strength now to have 
them changed.'' 

After feeding them as best we could, 
we withdrew while their tattered gar- 
ments were replaced by clean clothing. 
What a change on our return ! The 
soiled garments were thrown overboard, 
and our sick men lay cheerfully await- 
ing another supply of food. We worked 



32 THE BUGLE CALL. 

with them until eleven o'clock, when we 
retired to our state-rooms. I had so 
entirely forgotten everything else, in my 
excitement with my patients, that I sat 
down to do some little sewing neces- 
sary for the morrow, quite forgetting, 
as "Robbie" had, that it was the Sab- 
bath. 

The next morning one said to me, 
" What do you suppose you ladies seem- 
ed to us men like, last night ?" "I have 
no idea," was my reply. "Angels," he 
said ; "I could only keep repeating. 
They must be angels, not w^omen." "No, 
not angels, my friend ; only poor weak 
women, who are thankful for the privi- 
lege of doing something for the brave 
boys who have done so much for them." 








CHAPTEK III. 

AT CITY POINT. 



^ HE next morning we were m- 
f^ formed by our head physician 



that our boat had passed into 
government hands, and that we 
shoukl have the charge of our 
sick men but a few days, as when we 
reached Fortress Monroe the}^ were all 
to be transferred to the St. Mark ; our 
steamer was to be used for government 
purposes, and we were to be sent home 
by land. This was anything but wel- 
come news to us. It is a common say- 
ing that we soon learn to love any ob- 
ject for which we make sacrifices, and 
we found already that our hearts were 

Bugle Call. 3 



34 THE BUGLE CALL. 

beginning to go out to oiir jioor sick 
boys, as well as theirs to us. The two 
most repulsive patients in my ward were 
the two who seemed to need the most of 
my attention ; and it was astonishing 
how so'on everything repulsive was for- 
gotten by me in my great anxiety for 
their salvation. I knew that they could 
not survive their wounds, and that I 
must work faithfully, for the time was 
short. 

I went to the first; he was suffering 
intensely from a wound in the back, and 
life in prison had aggravated the case 
fearfully. Poor fellow! it was sad to 
hear his moans. I approached him and 
kindly inquired what I could do. "Noth- 
ing, I fear," was the reply, and I soon 
saw that human aid could indeed avail 
but little. "Poor boy," I said, "I hope 
you have learned to look to your Saviour 
for comfort, for you need his love now 



THE BUGLE CALL. 35 

sorely." ''No, ma'am, I can't say that 
I have. I know bnt little of religion 
anyway ; I am a Roman Catholic." 
"Well," I said, "if you are a Catholic, 
that need not hinder you from loving the 
Saviour." "But I hardly know any- 
thing about him, ma'am." "Shall I tell 
3^ou?" "Oh, yes, do." I opened my 
Bible and read of the loving Saviour 
crucified for sinners. Then I read from 
the fourteenth chapter of John, "In my 
father's house are many mansions, I go to 
prepare a place for 3^ou ;" etc. " Stop," 
he said; "what book is that?" "The 
Bible." "Are you reading that out of 
the Bible?" "I am." "May I see it 
with my own eyes ?" I handed him the 
book, laying my finger on the passage. 
"Read it once more." I complied with 
his request. "Strange that I should 
never have seen that before." "There 
it is," I replied ; " read it again for 



36- THE BUGLE CALL. 

yourself." ''Will you give me tliat 
Testament, and turn down the leaf so 
that I can find it again for myself?" " I 
will." Then I told him all— the love, 
the life, the death, and the resurrection 
of the dear, human and divine Saviour. 
How eagerly he drank it all in ; the wan 
face grew excited, the hollow eyes 
burned with an intense lustre, and then 
and there, I believe, he became the 
Lord's. The tired body and fainting 
soul rested in that revelation of divine 
love to sinners. I left him to ponder 
over what he had heard, and passed on 
to others who needed my care. 

I saw on another cot-bed in the dis- 
tance a pair of wistful looking eyes fol- 
lowing me as I moved about with an 
expression of longing for rest. I ap- 
proached, and found the case somewhat 
similar to the other. Both were sink- 
ing slowly from the effects of unhealed 



THE BUGLE CALL. '37 

wounds ; the balls could not be removed, 
the discharge therefore continued, and 
was carrying away the life with it in 
both cases. 

I had often heard that there were 
plenty of heathens in our owai gospel 
land, but hitherto I had never seen them. 
Here was one before me. "I am very 
sick," he said. "Yes, but I hope you have 
the comfort of Jesus' love." "Jesus, 
Jesus, w^ho is he ?" Was he lightheaded ? 
What could this mean? " Why, Jesus, 
the Saviour," I replied ; "do you not 

know who he v/as ?" "Why, no, I never 

• 

heard of him before." " Where have 
3^ou lived?" "In Boston, all my life." 
" Lived in the very heart of a Christian 
city like Boston, and have never heard 
of Jesus?" Was it possible? Could such 
a thing be? Christians, why have 
we been sleeping, how can we sleep, 
when there is a world of perishing sin- 



38 THE BUGLE CALL, 

ners around us? "Have you never 
been to Sunday-school ?" I asked. "No, 
ma'am ; never have been asked to go to 
such places." Where, should T com- 
mence ? What should I say ? Simply 
and earnestly again I told of Jesus' love ; 
and just as simply, just as earnestly, 
was it received. He loved his mother 
with an idolizing love ; and from this 
point 1 started, telling him of the dearer, 
tenderer love of Jesus ; and the tender, 
loving Saviour opened the heart of the 
poor dying boy to take in these sweet 
truths clearly and rapidly. I produced 
my little Testament again and read 
therefrom, his whole soul absorbed in 
trying to comprehend the freeness of 
salvation. Then came the same request : 
"May I have it for my own?'' "You 
may." "Will you write your name in 
it, because if I live to get home I shall 
want to think of you, and to look often 



THE BUGLE CALL. 39 

at your name written with your own 
hand.'' Poor boy, he would never reach 
his earthly home, but I trusted he would 
reach a better and a heavenly country, 
where he would wait to welcome me 
when I came. 

Others again claimed my attention, 
but I felt that none needed me as did 
these two — both singularly ignorant, 
both seeking Jesus, and both rapidly 
nearing another world. Others could 
do without me, but I almost felt as if the 
salvation of these two souls depended 
upon my efforts. Often we talked to- 
gether — often did I offer a quiet prayer, 
leaning over those bedsides, while doc- 
tors and nurses were bustling around 
me ; but naught disturbed them while 
hearing of Jesus' love. Sometimes their 
pain would be so great that they would 
moan aloud ; then I would say, " Can 
you not be brave for Jesus' sake? He 



40 THE BUGLE CALL. 

bore far more tlian this for you." The 
moans would be hushed, the tears dried, 
and the poor sufferers would try to bear 
cheerfully pains that I knew must be 
almost unendurable. 

Soon came the day of parting with our 
sick boys, and my heart died within me 
at the thought. We drew up by the 
side of the St. Mark, and they made 
ready to receive our patients. All the 
sick from the fever wards were removed 
first ; our ward was to be the last. How 
our poor bo3^s dreaded the parting, and 
how they shrank from the agony of the 
removal ! They were to be laid on 
stretchers, carried to the hurricane deck, 
then placed carefully in hammocks, to 
be swung over the side of the vessel, 
and then carried to their beds on the 
St. Mark. It was a trying performance, 
and one which the wounded sufferers 
greatly dreaded. " Oh,'' said the Catho- 



THE BUGLE CALL. 41 

lie boy, " I can never endure it; I shall 
never see mother agam." " He will help 
you/' I said; "and if you do not see 
your mother and do not reach your 
earthly home, are you not going to the 
heavenly mansions Jesus has prepared 
for you and me ? Pray for strength.'' 
"I cannot; I am so frightened." The 
nurses came for him. He refused to be 
put on the stretcher. " Wait a few mo- 
ments," I said; "leave him with me." 
They brought him some strong milk- 
punch, of which he drank ; then, while 
they waited, I leaned over him and 
prayed the dear Lord to give him cour- 
age to endure. When I ceased he said, 
" I will go now, I am stronger. Do not 
leave me for a single instant ; walk by 
my side, and as soon as I am on board 
the vessel, come to me again." The 
promise was readily given ; the poor 
boy was carefully and tenderly carried, 



42 THE BUGLE CALL. 

the hammock swung over, and he was 
laid quietly in his cot on the St. Mark. 
As soon as all were removed, wo 
' went on board to see our patients and 
bid them farewell. I dreaded the scene, 
but did not half realize what an ordeal 
it would be. It was now growing quite 
dark, and we could not discern which 
were our own patients, until we would 

hear one say, "Mrs. W , here am I 

over in this corner.'' "Mrs. L , 

here is your sick boy." "Mrs. B , 

don't forget me ; Mrs. B ! Mrs. 

B !" came over and over again from 

two voices in one corner. I hastened to 
the place, and found my two sick boys 
lying side by side, both clasping tightly 
the Testaments I had given them, from 
which they would not be parted for 

a single instant. "Mrs. B ," they 

said, "how can we leave you? Wont 
you ask the doctors to let you go 



THE BUGLE CALL. 43 

home ill this vessel?" "They cannot," 
I replied ; "their number of nurses is 
already complete ; they can take no 
more." Then I heard the wish echoed 
and reechoed from every side, until mj 
heart sank within me at the thous^ht of 
leaving them. "I will tell you what I 
will do, boys," I said; "I shall reach 
New York first, and when you arrive I 
will come on board the vessel to see 
you." This had to satisfy them, but it 
did not satisfy me, for I feared the vessel 
v/ould not go to New York, and that 
this was my final farewell. Then I went 
on my rounds. 

One interesting young soldier, who 
had been detailed as nurse on the Elm 
City, had broken down entirely, and was 
now to be sent home with the rest of the 
patients. I had often wanted to speak 
to him in regard to his state of mind, 
but he seemed so reticent I had not the 



44 THE BUGLE CALL. 

courage. I believe I have since learned 
that those kind words are always well 
received. He called me to his bedside 
and said, '' I want to say good-by to you. 
Can't you go with us ? I do not want to 
part with you.'' " I would gladly go/' I 
replied, "but cannot. Novf let me ask 
you that which I have been trying to 
find courage to ask you ever since I first 
came on board the Elm City : Are you 
a Christian?" " No, ma'am, bnt I would 
like to be. I have wondered v/hy you 
never spoke to me. I have watched you 
earnestly, and often longed for you to 
speak, but I have thought deeply. I am 
from Maine, and I am going home ; but 
I am going home to die. I am in deep 
consumption." Every word smote me 
to the heart. "Why had I, from foolish 
fears, neglected thus the work God had 
given me to do ! God helping me I 
would repair the error now. We talked 



THE BUGLE CALL. 45 

long and earnestly 5 lie was all ready to 
receive tlie gospel, just waiting, and I 
think he accepted Christ then, if he had 
not already done so. He held my hand 
in a long farewell clasp, looking at me so 
earnestly that I felt his words must be 
true. " Good-by,'* he said, ''good-b}". 
Oh, do not forget to pray for me. We 
shall never meet in this world again, but 
God grant that we may in the next." 
lie wrung my hand, and I turned away 
tears filling my eyes. I think when I 

reach my last home I shall meet W 

again. Thus I passed from one to an- 
other, sorrow filling my heart at every 
step. 

Brave young Lieutenant G bade 

me good-by, with the most earnest long- 
ing that I should not leave the vessel. 

"But," said he, "Mrs. B , the little 

testament you gave me I promise to read 
faithfully. I will try to fight the good 



46 THE BUGLE CALL. 

fight of faith, and to lay hold on eternal 
life. Some time I hope to get well, and 
do something to show my gratitude for 
your kindness to me." "There is but 
one return you cati make, and that is to 
commence now to fight that good fight of 
faith ; so that, if you never win another 
earthly victory, you may win the victory 
over sin — which will at last open to you 
the gates of everlasting glory — with the 
welcome words, ' Well done, good and 
faithful servant.' " So we parted. 

Last of all I came again to my two 
sick boys, who still carried their Testa- 
ments next their hearts. This was a 
hard farewell, for I knew that there was 
but little probability of their surviving 
even to reach New York. ''Never, 
never, never, shall we part with these," 
they said ; "they are everything to us. 
We will show them to you as soon as we 
arrive in New York." We were told 



THE BUGLE CALL. 47 

we must leave the vessel at once ; the 
goocl-bys were said, the ladies hurried 
on board the' Elm City, the vessels sepa- 
rated, and we saw each others' faces no 
more in this world. The St. Mark went 
to Philadelphia, and whether my two 
poor boys lived to reach their homes or 
not I never learned. Probably not one 
of all those men will ever meet me again 
in this world. God grant that when we 
do meet, it may be to bless him for those 
few days spent on the Elm Cit}^ For 
myself I can say I expect to bless him 
through all eternity for the work he per- 
mitted me there to do. 





CHAPTEE IV. 




ON DAVIDS ISLAND. 

FTER my return from the 
South, I still continued to feel 
^ more than ever that duty as 
well as pleasure called me to 
work for the dying soldiers 
until the war was over. Our sick men 
were now being rapidly carried north, 
and sent to the various hospitals through- 
out the country. Many were sent to 
Davids' Island, an island about twenty- 
five miles from New York, on Long 
Island Sound; beautifully situated, but 
hitherto almost useless, as it was noth- 
ing but a long, narrow island, composed 
almost entirely of sand. This the gov- 
ernment now decided to use for hospital 



THE BUGLE CALL. 49 

purposes, and erected tents for the tem- 
porary accommodation of the sick, until 
hospital buildings could be prepared. 
Here they were carried by hundreds ; 
but, as yet, the government had not 
been able to make proper provisions for 
their comfort. Therefore certain philan- 
thropic individuals established societies 
for the relief of these men, until such 
time as the government was ready to 
supply all their necessities. The .gov- 
ernment authorities erected for them 
barrack buildings, which we termed 
"ladies' kitchens," and in these Ave kept 
a store of delicacies for the sick men, 
which we would prepare and carry out 
to them under the direction of the phy- 
sicians. 

There were four kitchens, named after 
the villages whose contributions sup- 
ported them — the Pelham, the Yonkers, 
the Glencove, and the New Rochelle. In 

BusU- Call. 4 



50 THE BUGLE CALL. 

each kitchen were three or four ladies, 
who voluntarily labored there for the 
sole purpose of ministering to the wants, 
both temporal and spiritual, of these 
sick and dying men; and one lady be- 
sides, who was put in charge by these 
societies, and held responsible for the 
work. I was assigned to the Pelhara 
kitchen ; and my colaborers there were 
a noble band of women, whose friend- 
ship I shall cherish as long as life ^ehall 
last. They were women who forgot ev- 
erything — ^ themselves, their homes of 
luxury, their dress, their friends, every- 
thing save that men were dying, and souls 
were perishing ; women who shrank from 
nothing that was womanly, so that the 
woes of their countrymen might be alle- 
viated. Thank God for such women. 
The world is better for such as these. 

Our work was divided ; some remain- 
ing within doors, to prepare such things 



THE BUGLE CALL. 51 

as were needed for the sick, while oth- 
ers went outside and did what v/e termed 
the missionary work, carrying the deli- 
cacies thus prepared, and striving to 
carry with them the gospel of Jesus. 
Yet the work was one and the same ; 
either would have been incomplete with- 
out the other. Those who remained in- 
doors labored with indefatigable energy 
to provide for us who went out those 
things without which w^e could not 
have gone even to preach the gospel of 
Jesus Christ. We were one in heart, 
one in mind, and thus we labored to- 
gether with cheerfulness, prayerfulness, 
and thanksgiving. 

I Vv^as assigned to the out-of-door 
work. How vividly pass before my 
mind the thrilling experiences of those 
few months at oar island home! But 
one stands out in such bold relief that it 
seems like a thing burnt into my mem- 



52 THE BUGLE CALL. 

oiy, which can never be erased there- 
from. Let me try to picture it precisely 
as I saw and felt it : 

It was an October afternoon, and I 
was making my round of visits, striving 
to leave a little cheer, first in one tent, 
then in another ; a tract here, a Testa- 
ment there, some little delicacy for a 
sick man farther on, then a word for 
Jesus to some weary-hearted one ; and 
thus I passed on my rounds. It was 
nearly dark' when I entered a tent and 
found in one corner a man apparently 
dying, with a kind lady-visitor bending 
over him, endeavoring to minister to his 
wants. I said to one of his comrades, 
"I belong to the Pelham kitchen, and if 
you wish anything for the sick man, 
send there for it.'' After a few inquiries 
I passed on, and in ministering to the 
wants of others, the dying man quite 
passed from my mind. About nine 



THE BUGLE CALL. 53 

o'clock that evening a summons came to 
our kitchen for the lady who was in that 
sick man's tent in the afternoon ; he was 
dying, and wished to see her. ''The 
chaplain is here," I replied, "he will 
go.'' "No, he wishes you.''^ 

Should I go w^ith these men, entire 
strangers to me, on a dark night, not 
having the slightest assurance that their 
purposes towards me were good 2 I 
hesitated. None knew how to advise 
me. I Avent to my little room, and knelt 
and prayed the dear Lord to keep me 
from danger ; w^rapped my cloak about 
me, took my Bible in my hand, and went 
forth without fear. The night was dark 
and cold, but never were there more 
courteous attendants than my two plain, 
unknown soldier guides. 

Now let me describe the scene that 
greeted me on my entrance, though my 
feeble pen cannot do it justice. 



54 THE BUGLE CALL. 

It was a double tent, raised in the 
centre. In the farther corner lay the 
dying man, life seeming almost extinct, 
now and then a gurgling sound rising 
from his throat, a sort of a death-rattle, 
as it seemed, which made me fear I had 
come too late. Around the dying man 
stood, I should think, twelve or fifteen 
of his comrades, waiting to* see the 
struggle over. All this v>^as revealed to 
me by the light of a single candle flick- 
ering in a bottle, held in the hands of 
one of the men. The tent stood near 
the water's edsie. The wind had now 
increased to a gale, and the waves were 
lashing the shore with fury. The fly of 
the tent was loose, and ever and anon it 
would come with a startling flap against 
the bed where lay the poor sufferer. 

Never shall I forget that scene. I 
seem to live it over aorain while I record 
it. The dying man, the wailing com- 



THE BUGLE CALL. 55 

rades, the flickering sickly light of the 
candle, the sound of the lashing waves, 
the flapping canvas, the gurgle in the 
dying man's throat, all combined, ren- 
dered it the most impressive scene that 
I had ever witnessed. My companion 
went to the bedside and said, "Jenkins, 
the lady you wanted is here ; can you 
speak to her?'' He motioned to have 
me come to him, and murmured, "I am 
very sick, I fear, and I have been so 
very wild." *'You are very ill," I re- 
plied, ''but it is not too late to come to 
Christ." "But I have been so wild, so 
wicked." "Not more wicked than the 
thief on the cross, '^ I said. Then I read 
of the dying thief and the forgiving 
Saviour. ''But I knew better ; I had a 
good father, and I fear it is now too 
late." " Not too late if you will accept 
of Christ and his sacrifice, offered on 
the cross for you." 



56 THE BUGLE CALL. 

I then rdacl the 51st and 103d Psalins, 
tlie 5 til chapter of 2 Corinthians, and 
other passages, scarcely knowing wheth- 
er he heard or not. Then I knelt in 
prayer. Those rough-looking men all 
stood with heads uncovered, and eyes 
filled with tears, while I implored the 
dear Saviour to reveal himself merciful- 
ly to this poor dying one, and to his 
comrades who stood beside him. When 
I ceased, he said, "Do you think I am 
so very ill? " "I do. I think your end 
is very near, and you will soon stand in 
the presence of your Maker. But he is 
merciful, and if you pray, he will for- 
give." "Raise me, raise me,'' he said; 
and then such a prayer ! Oh that I 
could remember every syllable of it. 
Thus it commenced: "0 God of gods 
and Lord of lords : Thou, in whose pres- 
ence I shall shortly stand, help me to 
realize my sins before thee," etc. He 



THE BUGLE CALL. 57 

seemed to see it all, to stand right upon 
the borders of the other world, looking 
over, and seeing all that lay beyond ; 
and the prayer was a cry of agony, sent 
up to one who must be a God of justice 
as well as a God of love. After a most 
humiliating confession of sin, and an ap- 
peal to God for mercy, arose a prayer 
of terrible earnestness for his wicked 
companions in sin who stood around 
him. He ceased. I thought the end 
had come, and I continued the pra3'er, 
commending the soul of the dying man 
to his Eedeemer. When I ceased, again 
he took up the cry, "Lord, have mercy 
upon me, and upon them," and only fin- 
ished when so exhausted he could not 
utter another word. ''He is flighty," 
they said. ''He does not know what he 
is saying." " I do ; I know every word." 
I could do no more for him then, and 
left him, saying, "You may send for 



58 THE BUGLE CALL. 

me at any hour of the night he wants 
me." 

The next morning early the word 
came that he still lived. I immediately 
went to his tent. The storm had now 
passed away. The elements without 
were at rest, seemingly almost as though 
they were in sympathy with the sick 
man. He lay quietly on his bed, await- 
ing my coming, and appearing now to 
have little dread of the approach of the 
last great enemy. He greeted me with 
a quiet look of gratitude. " I hope I 
have found Him. I have prayed all 
night. I have been a great sinner, but 
I believe he will forgive my sin." "The 
blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth 
us from all sin," I said. "Do you think 
he will cleanse one who has been so 
wicked as I have, and who knew the sin 
of it as I did?" "Yes, if you will ac- 
cept him." "I hope I have." So we 



THE BUGLE CALL. 50 

talked, slowly, and with great difficulty 
of utterance for him ; but I felt that 
peace was coming, and that the blood of 
Jesus Christ had availed for'him. So he 
lingered for two or three days, each da}^ 
growing more peaceful, more hopeful. 
He said, " Write to father, and tell him 
that I hope I shall meet him and my sis- 
ters in heaven. I think I shall." One 
morning word w^as brought me that poor 
Jenkins had passed away during the 
night, hoping to the end. 

One morning, about a w^eek later, I 
was told that a man desired to see the 
lady who had stood by Jenkins' death- 
bed. I immediately answered the sum- 
mons. A plain, quiet man stood before 
me. "Madam, are jow the lady who 
was with Jenkins when he died ? " "I 
am." "Will you tell me all you can 
about it?" I gave as full a statement 
as I could, endeavorino: not to omit a 



60 THE BUGLE CALL. 

single thing. "Madam, do you think 
that bo}^ died a Christian?*' "I do." 
"Madam, if that was your boy, then 
would you think so?" "I would, though 
I do not generally have much confidence 
in death-bed conversions. This man's 
penitence and faith seemed so sincere 
that I could not doubt it." Then the 
self-constraint all vanished, and the fa- 
ther broke down before me. "0 mad- 
am, how I loved that boy! how I prayed 
for him ! But he was so wild ; he went 
so far astra3^ Yet I never ceased pray- 
ing for him ; and when I heard he was 
sick on this island, I hurried here, hop- 
ing to reach him before he died, that I 
might hear from his own lips if there 
was any reason to hope. Now, even his 
body has gone. I cannot even look 
upon his dead, cold face. But, madam, 
if i^u think he died a Christian, I have 



^1 



nofWrng more to say, nothing more to 



THE RtTGLE CAI^I.. 61 

a»sk for."' "I hoped so before: I believe 
it fully now.' was my reply. "I do not 
believe that G-od has permitted the pray- 
ers of such a father to go unanswered/' 
"Grod bless you, Grod bless you, 'was all 
he could utter, as he pressed my hand, 
watering it with tears. ''Thank Grod 
you were erer seat to Davids'' Island." 

And I did thank Grt^d from my inmost 
heart. TMs alone would have beea suf- 
ficient compensation, for all I ever did 
there. But Grod did not permit the 
work to end here. He gave us. we 
hoped, many souls for our hire : bat the 
influeace of this maas death reached 
maay more. K time aad space aEowed, 
I could tell how oae after daother of the 
hardeaed mea who stood around that 
death-bed were led to the Saviour. Oae 
said, * I have seea death, I believe, ia al- 
most every form, but aever witaessed I a 
scene that impressed me as did tke sceae 



62 THE BUGLE. CALL. 

in tliat tent tliat wild October niglit.'^ 
Tlie speaker was one of the first fruits. 
And another, the most wicked man of the 
whole group, afterwards would knock 
any man down (I was told) who spoke a 
Avord against the religion of the ladies 
on that island. He, too, I trust, found 
the Saviour. 

And, mothers, I would like to tell you 
of one more of that same group, who 
was so wild that they all said, "You 
cannot reach George ; it is not worth 
while to try.'' But I found there was 
one tender spot in that boy's heart. It 
was the love of his dead mother, who 
died praying for her wayward son. One 
day I approached him kindly ; and when 
I saw he was determined to avoid me, I 
said, "Please give me a few minutes." 
I drew from him the story of his moth- 
er's love, and prayers and death; and 
then oh how I plead by everything that 



THE BUGLE CALL. 63 

was sacred in that mother's love, that 
he would turn to Christ here and now, 
abandoning, from this moment, all his 
evil habits, that he might find her Sav- 
iour, and at last meet her in heaven. 
His lips quivered, he hesitated, broke 
down, and promised. "But, Mrs. 

B ," he said, "why did you speak 

of mother ? I could have stood anything 
but that." " I knew it, George," I re- 
plied ; "that is the very reason I plead 
by her memory." 

Christian father, Christian mother, will 
you not take fresh courage, and dedicate 
yourselves and your children with a re- 
newed consecration to him, and with a 
renewed faith in him, as the prayer- 
hearing and prayer-answering God, the 
covenant-keeping God, whose "mercy 
is from everlasting to everlasting upon 
them that fear him, and his righteous- 
ness unto children's children." 




CHAPTEE Y. 




THE DAILY ROUTINE. 



HE facts recorded in the last 
chapter were among my earli- 
est experiences at Davids' Island. 
Of course, such thrilling scenes 
as these were seldom met with 
in our work, yet scarcely a day passed 
in which something peculiarly interesting 
did not arise. The work necessarily was 
a very absorbing one, and there seemed 
to be a peculiar intensity of purpose in 
everything we did. Life seemed as if it 
were condensed, as though we were crowd- 
ing more into a week here, than we could 
do in months of our ordinary lives. The 
outer world appeared left behind us j 



THE BUGLE CALL. 65 

indeed we almost forgot there was any 
other world than the little world of Da- 
vids' Island, with its two thousand souls. 
Let me briefly describe our life. Our 
building was small, consisting of one 
large kitchen where we prepared our 
delicacies for the sick, two storerooms, 
three small bedrooms for the accommo- 
dation of our ladies, and a little dining- 
room. Our comforts were comparatively 
few, our duties heavy, our work one of 
great responsibility, and yet there Avas 
a certain indescribable charm about the 
life we thus led. I cannot tell how it 
would have appeared to us, if we could 
have separated from it the crowning joy 
of the whole, namely, the privilege of 
working for Christ ; but it always seemed 
to me that there was a peculiar charm in 
the very novelty of the life, the emo- 
tions produced by it were so entirely dif- 
ferent from anything we had ever before 



G6 THE BUGLE CALL. 

experienced. Perhaps this was iu part 
to be ascribed to the beautiful situation 
of the island. It was so narrow, that we 
seemed to be living on the very water's 
edge ; and there is something in the 
sound of the never-ceasing, ever -rolling 
waves, that appeals to the higher part of 
man's nature. One night, I remember 
w^ell rising from my bed, and going into 
our quiet little diningroom, that I might 
listen to the music of the waves. All 
was still: it seemedasif the whole island 
were sleeping; not a sound was to be 
heard but the deep undertone of the 
waters ; it was different from anything I 
had ever before heard. They hardly 
seemed to strike the beach at all, but 
would roll quietly back, with a dull, 
muffled sort of a sound, like the low roll- 
ing of distant thunder. It seemed almost 
portentous. I think I never heard any- 
thing that affected me in precisely the 



THP BUGLE CALL. 67 

same manner. I sat long, and listened, 
wrapt in thought. The overpowering 
responsibility, the full greatness of our 
work rose up before me, while I thus sat 
as it were alone with God. I felt as 
though God was giving to us, poor feeble 
women, a work to do, that might well fill 
an angel's heart and hands. Should we 
prove faithffll to the great trust thus com- 
mitted to us ? 

I went back to my bed, to fall into a 
restless slumber, and after an hour or 
two had passed I arose, for I could not 
sleep. What a change ! The dull, muf- 
fled undertone of the waters had all gone 
now, and they were dashing angrily upon 
the beach; higher and higher each mo- 
ment were they rising, until I almost fan- 
cied they were breaking with their white 
foam underneath the very window where 
I stood. All around me still lay peace- 
fully wrapt in slumber, and the deep so- 



68 THE BUGLE CALL. 

lemnity of the scene spoke to my soul of 
God as nature had never done before. 
Nothing can convey my emotions, but 
those glorious words of the 104th Psalm : 
*' Who laid the foundations of the earth, 
that it should not be removed for ever! 
Thou coveredst it with the deep, as with 
a garment ; the waters stood above the 
mountains. At thy rebuke Ihey fled, at 
the voice of thy thunder they hasted 
away." 

And then our sunsets — how I drank 
in the joy they afforded me. I had never 
seen an Italian sunset, but I could not 
imagine anything more gorgeous than the 
sunsets at Davids' Island. Perhaps the 
day would be a dark one, heavy clouds 
scudding across the sky, bringing with 
them a sad foreboding of the cold wintry 
days in store for us. Suddenly the sun 
would break through, the heavy clouds 
would roll away, and the whole island 



THE BUGLE CALL. 69 

be flooded with a golden glory, the waves 
reflecting back the richer tints of the 
skies, seeming like the way our Father 
often comes to his children in their hour of 
heaviest sorrow, and so floods them with 
the light of his love, that even their sor- 
rows reflect back the joy of his dear 
presence. 

And then there were the calmer, 
milder sunsets, when the sun after sink- 
ing below the horizon, would seem as it 
were to come back to a new life, and 
open the gates of glory for us, that we 
might see for an instant that which lay 
beyond. Like some dying child of God, 
who is quietly passing to the unseen 
world, and suddenly seems as if for a 
moment transfigured before us with the 
glory v/hich is to be revealed ; and so 
vividly does he portray to us that which 
he is seeing and hearing, that we too feel 
as if our feet were within the gates of 



70 THE BUGLE CALL. 

the golden city. 'T is but an instant, 
and lie is gone, and we are left alone, 
with only the remembrance of the glory 
thus revealed. But like Christian, in 
Pilgrim's Progress, we, too, wish our- 
selves among them. Sweetly has some 
author expressed it . 

" The city's sinning towers we may not see, 
With our dim earthly vision ; 
For Death, the silent warder, keeps the key. 
That opes those gates elysian. 

" But sometimes, when adown the western sky 
The fiery sunset lingers. 
Its golden gates swing inward noiselessly, 
Unlocked by unseen fingers. 

" And while they stand a moment half ajar, 
Gleams from the inner glory 
Stream brightly through the azure vault afar^ 
And half reveal the story." 

I have wandered. I believe I com- 
menced with the purpose of describing 
our daily life; and the glories which 
came into that life have carried me away 
until they have touched the life which is 
unseen and eternal. But to return to 



THE BUGLE CALL. 71 

my story. Each morning would find us 
busily engaged in our preparations for 
the day ; our home ladies at work in the 
kitchen, making ready to supply the 
needs of the sick men, and we filling our 
baskets with tracts, Testaments, hymn- 
books, oranges, lemons, flannel shirts, 
pocket-handkerchiefs, jellies, Harper's 
Magazine, tales, newspapers, and every- 
thing else that we could think would 
prove acceptable to the men. Then, 
when all was made ready, the last thing 
would be to kneel down and ask God to 
teach us just to which tent to go, just to 
which man to speak — for how could we 
choose from among those two thousand 
souls — and how could we know just the 
word to speak? After ten o'clock the 
doctors were through their morning 
rounds, then we would go forth to our 
work, in great weakness, fear, and tremb- 
ling, leaning on an Almighty arm. 



72 THE BUGLE CALL. 

Our hospitals were not yet complete, 
and the men were still lying in tents. 
The island looked like a city of tents, 
and though it was regularly laid out in 
streets, it always appeared to me like a 
labyrinth, out of which I could never 
come, without some guiding clew. Then 
we would go from tent to tent, as God 
seemed to direct, and talk with one sick 
man after another of the love of Jesus, 
until the evening shadows fell, giving 
ourselves only time for a hurried din- 
ner. 

After tea we would perhaps attend an 
evening prayer meeting, where we would 
gather in such men as were able to be 
about ; or else perhaps have half a dozen 
of them in our kitchen, where we would 
converse with them on religious subjects ; 
or perhaps one of our ladies would play 
on the melodeon, while we would all join 
in singino; familiar home hvmns. 



THE BUGLE CALL. 73 

Then, after they had all left us, we 
would retire to our little dining-room to 
talk over the events of the day, perhaps 
for two or three hours ; sometimes rela- 
ting to each other deathbed experiences, 
or the exercises of anxious souls seeking 
Christ, or perhaps some incident so amu- 
sing that the walls of our little building 
would reecho with our laughter. This 
was our rest, our recreation ; and we 
needed it, for ours was a heavy work, full 
of anxiety and responsibility. Said a 
dear ministerial friend, who came down 
occasionally to help us with our work, 
"Why, ladies, it would kill me in six 
weeks to do the work 3^ou are doing." 
So we would have said six months be- 
fore ; and ofttimes now, as we look back 
to it, we wonder how we had the courage 
for that which we then went through, 
and we say we could never do it again. 
But if God and our country needed us, 



74 THE BUGLE CALL. 

we doubt not we would gird on the armor 
and enter our names on the lists again 
with fresh courage for the conflict. The 
work was the Lord's, and he raised up 
the men and women to do it. 





CHAPTEE VI. 




A NEW RECRUIT. 

0^Y could we, I asked in the 
preceding chapter, know just 
to which tents to go, and just 
to which men to speak, unless 
God directed us? And now I 
ask, amidst the many incidents crowded 
into those few months of hospital life, 
how shall I choose those best calculated, 
not alone to interest the reader, but to 
help doubting souls to the Saviour, un- 
less he guide me. Incidents might be 
selected almost at random, for there are 
many that bring to me precious mem- 
ories ; but I prefer to speak of the men 



76 THE BUGLE CALL. 

whose career I was best able to follow, 
and who stood up most faithfully for the 
Saviour, whom they there learned to 
know and love. 

I found myself one pleasant afternoon, 
just before my day's work was over, 
standing at the opening of a little tent, 
in which sat two young men, neither of 
whom I judged had yet attained the age 
of manhood. They had a listless, wea- 
ried air about them that saddened me at 
once. The face of the elder was pe- 
culiarily sad and thoughtful. " Wliat is 
the matter, boys?*' I inquired as I en- 
tered the tent; "why do you look so 
downcast ?'' " Oh, we are so tired here," 
w^as the reply ; "it is so dull, and such 
hard work to be away from our regi- 
ment, lying here in hospital sick." " Ah, 
there are worse things than that," I said ; 
" but let me sit down and see if I cannot 
cheer you a little." So I took my seat 



THE BUGLE CALL. 77 

beside them, and asked tliem about their 
homes and their army life, and told them 
I would bring them some cheerful read- 
ing on the morrow. After talking awhile, 
until I had gained their confidence, I 
said, "Are either of you boys Chris- 
tians?'' "No, ma'am," was the ready 
response, "and we do n't think it is worth 
while to try to be while we are in the 
army." " Why not ?" I said. " Oh, be- 
cause there are no Christians there ; and 
you could n't be a Christian in the army 
any way, even if you wanted to be one." 
" No Christians in the army, and couldn't 
be one if you wanted to either ? Wait 
a moment," I said, "I can prove that 
you are mistaken. I have a brother 
who is a Christian officer, and thinks 
that if a man chooses he can be a Chris- 
tian there as well as in any other place. 
p]very man's life, you know, must have 
its temptations." " Oh, yes, but he is 



78 THE BUGLE CALL. 

an officer ; that is different. He could 
not be a Christian if he was a private." 
"But he was at first a private, and 
was a Christian then." "I do not know 
how he did it, ma'am. I cannot under- 
stand it." "There is only one way to 
do it," I said ; " that is, to look to Grod 
every day and every hour for help." 
" Well, I do not know that I care much 
about it any way. I have sometimes 
thought I would like to be a Christian, 
but not enough to make any exertion to 
try to be." "If I should tell you that 
on that vacant plot of ground, yonder 
there was a treasure worth millions, 
which you could have if you searched 
until you found it, when would you be- 
gin your search?" "Why, to-morrow, 
certainly; to-night, if we could. But, 
ma'am, there is no such treasure ; you 
have nothing like that to offer us." 
"That is true. I have no such treasure 



THE BUGLE CALL. 79 

to ofifer you ; but I have that to offer 
which untold millions could not buy. If 
the wealth of the world w^as laid at your 
feet, it would not be anything in com- 
parison to that which I come in Grod's 
name to bring to you to-day.'' They 
looked up in amazement, and then I told 
them of the priceless value of the salva- 
tion wrought out by the Son of God, and 
of the freeness and fullness of that sal- 
vation — a salvation without money and 
without price, the only terms of Avhich 
were to accept and live. "Ho, every 
one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ; 
and he that hath no money, come ye, 
buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and 
milk without money and without price." 
Isa. 55:1. The elder of the two was 
evidently much impressed. " Why, I 
would like it,'' he said, " but it has never 
come to me in this light before.'' It was 
now growing dark, and I bade them 



80 THE BUGLE CALL. 

good-niglit, promising to come again on 
the morrow. 

On the morrow accordingly I went, 
taking with me some cheerful reading. 
Again we talked earnestly on the same 
subject, and I felt that the seed had been 
planted in at least one heart, and that 
God would cause it to take root and 
grow. ''I have thought much, ma'am, 
of that which you told us last night. I 
could hardly sleep for thinking, and I 
would like to start on the Christian life ; 
but I fear that I shall not have the cour- 
age to hold out." 

"Do not trouble yourself about that. 
Begin the Christian life at once, and God 
will give you strength to hold out to the 
end. He will take care of the end if 
you will only take care of the beginning. 
Do promise me," I plead. "You will 
be so happy, and so much better fitted 
for duty, if you are a Christian soldier, 



THE BUGLE CALL. 81 

and so much better fitted to die, if death 
must come." "I will, ma'am; I will 
try ;" and he did, and from that moment 
I hope he began his Christian life. 
Though for many weeks it had but a 
very feeble existence, God permitted us 
to watch its growth, until it bloomed into 
a strong and vigorous life — a life of which 
all who came into contact with it felt 
the effects, the reality of which could 
not be doubted, for it bore daily fruits. 
His body daily developed into a more 
vigorous manhood, and it seemed to me 
as though his religious life kept pace 
with his bodily growth. I never heard 
any man say he doubted the religion of 

F ; it could not be doubted. 

In reading over some old army cor- 
respondence to-day, I met this passage 
in one of his letters, written man}^ 
months after he had left us and returned 
to the camp: "Never do I forget the 



82 THE BUGLE CALL. 

evening you came to me at my tent on 
Davids' Island, and the impressions on 
my mind from that time forward. No, 

Mrs. B , I do not regret my choice 

to serve God. I have never at my 
darkest moments regretted it ; and when 
I think of what my life and enjoyments 
used to be, I cannot but rejoice.^' 

But let me give a little history of the 
progress of this work in his soul. We 
had evening prayer-meetings, at which 
the men would rise and ask for the 
prayers of others. This seemed to be a 
stand taken, which made them feel that 
they were pledged to go on ; yet it was 
often a great effort to take this step. I 

urged it upon F . " Oh, I cannot,'' 

he said, "I cannot. I am not sure yet 
that I am even trying." " I am," I re- 
plied, "and that step will be a great 
help." But I could not prevail. One 
night, much to my surprise and delight, 



THE BUGLE CALL. 83 

he rose and in a trembling voice made 
known his request. I knew that this 
had cost him a painful effort, and I knew 
full well that his Christian life would 
develop rapidly from that hour. My 
theory was correct, and soon his voice 
was heard in prayer in our meetings ; 
and from this time he became one of 
our strongholds. Whenever a sick man 
needed more religious care than I could 

give him, I had only to say, "F , 

will you not go to that sick man and try 
to give him God's word as I gave it to 
you ? It 's the only return you can 
make me." "Indeed, I will ma'am, if 
you think I am worthy to do the work ;" 
and so, as he improved in health, he 
continued to work, ever steadfast, ever 
faithful, a pure, straightforward, honest 
Christian man. What a comfort he was 
to us ! Afterwards he was' sent to Fort 
Hamilton, where a dear sister was work- 



84 THE BUGLE CALL. 

ing for the sick as we were at Davids' Isl- 
and. From the time he arrived her work 
became lighter ; he always stood by her 
ready to help her, and was so consistent 
in his Christian life that none could now 
say a soldier could not be a Christian. 

But let me quote again from a letter 
received from him while at Fort Hamil- 
ton : ''Our prayer-meeting is no longer 
a dull, dragging meeting of five or six 
boys, but it is a meeting in which as 
many as time permits take an active 
part ; a meeting that I know^ the smiles 
of Heaven rest upon, and in which some 
are seen kneeling down in time of prayer 
who might have been heard profaning 
the name of God a short time ago. Miss 

M said once, that if Satan had any 

ground he called his own, it was here at 
Fort Hamilton ; but she thought we had 
a small hold, and she did not want us to 
give up that little, but make an effort to 



THE BUGLE CALL. 85 

gain ground. And I was thinking yes- 
terday, and writing home about it, how 
we had gained footing, and how different 
was our position now from what it was 
when we first came here. And it is all 

the result of Miss M 's visits and 

efforts, because I should have given up 
oftentimes, had she not come down and 
stirred us up. I thought it was of no 
use, for I felt that no one had any in- 
terest but me ; but now there are many 
to take hold of it." So he continued 
working until ordered back to his regi- 
ment, and then his letters were clear, 
strong, and faithful, with always the 
same vein of sadness running through 
them, for he was naturally inclined to 
look on the dark side. But every letter 
expressed the same joy at the choice he 
had made, the same consecration of pur- 
pose, and the same earnest desire to win 
souls to Christ. 



86 THE BUGLE CALL. 

At one time liis letters did not come 
to hand, and I wrote to his sister for in- 
formation concerning him. This was the 
reply : '' My brother is still in the army 
unharmed, or was when we last heard 
from him, on the 8th of June. They 
were still lying in front of Petersburg. 
My brother has been very fortunate so 
far ; he has survived many friends ; he 
has participated in many hardships ; he 
has had many long, wearisome marches ; 
he has lived a soldier's life for nearly 
two years. We hope he may escape one 
year longer and return home, feeling that 
he has done his duty. We fear that he 
will not, that the fatal blow is yet to 
come ; but we have the consolation that 
he is prepared to fall, if that should be 
his fate ; for I believe he is a true Chris- 
tian, and that he enjoys his religion, for 
his only desire appears to be to serve 
his Maker. He has given his life into 



THE BUGLE CALL. 87 

the Lands of his Saviour, and we are 
content to trust him in his care." 

June 26th came this letter from him : 
"Battle Line, Front of Petersburg. 

Since I wrote Miss M we have not 

been in any general engagement, but 
have been shelled once or twice furi- 
ously. One charge of scrapnel thrown 
into our company hit several of our men, 
but none were killed ; it seemed to me 
almost a miracle. At any rate I recog- 
nize the hand of God m preserving us 
under such a fire. For my good health, 
for the preservation of my life, and for 
all the great blessings I enjoy, I am truly 

thankful. I am not tired, Mrs. B , 

of trying to be a Christian. I find a 
comfort on the fatiguing march, amidst 
the bustle of camp, around the rain- 
drenched bivouac, and at last in the 
conflict, or while restlessly expecting to 
move forward to an attack, or to be at- 



88 THE BUGLE CALL. 

tacked. Then it is, that I am not sorry 
that I have taken Christ for my portion. 

But, Mrs. B , I am always impressed 

with a deep sense of my weakness and 
proneness to stray from God. I am often 
despondent. Yet I have a hope in 
Christ, and am looking for a crown of 
life, knowing that if I faint not I shall 
receive it. I am glad that people at 
home are so earnestly praying on our 
behalf, for I know that the fervent prayer 
of the righteous availeth much. Remem- 
ber me always at the throne of grace, 
that I may be submissive to God's will. 
If it is his will, I want to go home ; if 
not, ' Thy will, not mine, be done.' " He 
did live, thank God, to see the war over, 
and when I last heard from him, he was 
happily situated in his own home as the 
Christian head of a household. God 
grant that he may long be spared to 
work for Him. 




GHAPTEE YII. 




THE DOUBLE TENT. 

'OMETIMES it would take a 
great deal of courage to enter 
a tent, wlien it was full, and the 
men looked as if our visits were 
not agreeable ; then there was a 
great temptation to pass by the spot, 
saying, ''I do not believe duty calls me 
there. '^ One such scene I can recall. 
As I glanced into a tent, which was a 
double one, the separating canvas being 
raised, I saw quite a party of men sit- 
ting within, but with no look of welcome 
visible upon their countenances. '' Good 
morning,'' I said. "Do you wish any 



90 THE BUGLE CALL. 

books?'' ''No, we do not wish any- 
thing.'' " Well, I will not come in if 
3^ou do not wish me ; but I thought you 
would like some magazines, or tales." 
•'Oh, we thought 3^ou had nothing but 
Bibles and tracts ; walk in, we shall be 
very glad to get them." So I walked 
in, and taking my seat among them drew 
them out as usual to talk of their regi- 
ments and their homes. 

They soon became interested, and the 
group around me gradually increased in 
numbers, and I pondered in my heart 
how I should introduce the subject of re- 
ligion here, where I felt it would meet 
with no response. God gave me words, 
as he always did. Christ's directions to 
his disciples seemed as though they might 
have been written for us: "Take no 
thought how or what ye shall speak, for 
it shall be given you in that same hour 
what ye shall speak ; for it is not ye that 



THE BUGLE CALL. 91 

speak, but the Spirit of your Father wliicli 
speaketh in you.'' Matt. 10:19, 20. 

After asking many questions about 
their army life, and telling them some of 
my own experiences in the few days I 
was at the South, I said to one of the 
men, " What w^as the name of the gen- 
eral who commanded your division?" 

" We w^ere most of us in General C 's 

division." " Ah!" I replied, "then you 
had a Christian general." "I don't 
know, ma'am, how that was ; we men of 
course knew but little of our generals ; 
but we all respected him much." "I 
will tell you a little story about him," I 
said, '' if you would like to hear it." Of 
course permission was granted. " When 
I was quite a young girl," I said, "in my 
father's church — for he was a minister — 
there were but few young Christians, al- 
most all old people ; and we young peo- 
ple did not care much to go to prayer- 



92 THE BUGLE CALL. 

meetings. One summer there came to 
our village a young man, with a clear 
head and winning manners ; manners 
that seemed to betoken a Christian 
heart. He immediately went into our 
church prayer-meetings, singing with a 
sweet voice, and praying with an earn- 
est. Christian heart. The young people 
were quite surprised, for hitherto they 
had looked upon prayer-meetings as be- 
ing better suited to the aged and middle- 
aged people of the church ; and he was 
so fresh, so young, and so full of viva- 
city. What could he see in these meet- 
ings, that made him love so much to go ? 
We could not tell, but we would go and 
try them too. And we did go, and some 
of us soon learned to love them as well 
as he did, and only wondered we had 
not loved them before. The grace of 
God came into our hearts, and the sweet 
cheerful influence of that young man 



THE BUGLE CALL. 93 

helped many of us to Christ. That, my 
friends, was your general ! If ever you 
see him again, ask him, and he will tell 
you that every word I say is true. Now 
if so great a man as your general does 
not find religion a thing unworthy of his 
seeking, would it not be worth while for 
3^ou to try it for yourselves ? He would 
tell you, if you asked him, that there is 
nothing like the joy God gives his chil- 
dren, when they seek his love." Then, 
what an earnest appeal I made to them 
to seek Christ now. ''Now is the ac- 
cepted time, now is the day of salvation.'^ 
All listened intently. By this time, 
I should think, there were twenty men 
standing around me, and I turned from 
one to another, with those simple words, 
"Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and 
• ye shall find." " Him that cometh unto 
me, I will in no wise cast out." I be- 
came very much interested in the con- 



94 THE BUGLE CALL. 

versation, and so did they. When I had 
finished I said, "Now will you accept 
Bibles, and Testaments ?" " Yes, ma'am ; 
oh yes, as many as you can spare." I 
gave all I had ; and one man, who had 
been the coldest on my entrance, said, 
" Cannot you bring me a Bible in good 
print? I will promise to read it." As 
I bade them good-by, tliey said, " Come 
ogain; oh do come very soon; don't let 
it be many days before we see you in 
our tent again." I left the tent, and 
turned towards home, wondering why I 
could not always trust my Father to 
speak for me : 

" Workman of God, oil lose not heart, 
But learn wliat God is like ; 
And in the darkest battle-field 
Thou shalt know where to strike." 

A few days after, the doctor who had 

charge of these tents said, " Mrs. B , 

do my boys treat you well? because, if 



THE BUGLE CALL. 95 

they do not, I will have them punished." 
"I would rather you should leave 3'our 
boys with me/' I said; "but you ask 
them, for yourself, whether they would 
like to see that same lady in their tents 
again." 

• Another scene I also recall, of very 
much the same character. It is in the 
double tent again, the men scattered list- 
lessly or morosely about. I enter, and 
sit down by the couch of a sick man. 
After my usual pleasant inquiries, we 
fall very soon into religious discussions, 
and one by one the men draw near and 
form part of the circle, until I have again 
a large audience. "0 ma'am," replies 
the sick man, "I do not believe as. you 
do. I am a Universalist, and so are most 
of the boys in these two tents." " Well," 
I said, "let us look into the subject." 
" There is but little use in that, ma'am,'' 
said the sick man. ' ' 1 have been brought 



96 THE BUGLE CALL. 

up in that belief, and do not think you 
could change me." "Well," I said, 
"you have no objection to conversing 
with me upon the subject." "No, not the 
least." 

I found he was a pretty clear thinker ; 
the rest did not know exactly what they 
believed. I reasoned with them for a 
long time, and with much earnestness, of 
"righteousness, temperance, and judg- 
ment to come." When I had finished, 
they were all seated very quietly, appa- 
rently much interested, when I said, 
"My friends, does your religion make 
you happy ?" " iVb." " Well, mine does 
me : it is an unfailing source of happi- 
ness, I have gone through much sor- 
row, but never has that consolation lost 
its power to cheer and sustain me. Now, 
if your religion has not made you happy, 
and mine has made me so, why will you 
not try my religion? You can have it 



THE BUGLE GALL. 97 

for the asking ; God's word tells you so. 
' Come unto me, all ye that labor and are 
heavy laden, and I Avill give you rest.' " 

To prove to them the sincerity of what 
I said, I remarked, "I am going home 
to-morrow to rest for a few days, and 
when I come back you may be gone. If 
you should never see me again in this 
world, but should at any time take up a 
paper and see my death in it, you need 
not say, ' I am sorry ;' but rather, ' how 
glad I am ; she has gone to be with her 
Saviour whom she loved ;' for I tell you, 
my friends, I should be glad. Now can 
you not see that my religion is more than 
a hope ? it is a happy and firm belief." 
" It must be," was the reply ; '' but may 
we not say, we are sorry for ourselves ? 
for we should be very sorry." 

I bade them good-by, telling them I 
should leave on the morrow. The fol- 
lowing morning early, a man came to our 



98 THE BUGLE CALL. 

"ladies' kitchen/' saying that tbe men 
in tent No. 10 wished to see the lady 
who called there yesterday. I put on 
my things, and hurried down to the tent, 
and found the same party awaiting me. 
" What did you desire? I have but little 
time." "We sent for you, to urge you 
not to go home to-day." "I must," I 
replied ; " they need me at home, and I 
require rest." "But we need you too; 
need you far more than they do at home." 
"For what?" I asked. " Oh, to tell us 
of your religion; of your Saviour, and 
of his love, and to help us to find him." 
"I cannot, I must go; my plans are all 
made." " Have you a right to go," they 
said, " when we need you so much ? We 
put it to your conscience ; if you love the 
Saviour so well, hov/ can you go until 
you have helped us to find him ?" " You 
are right," I replied ; " I cannot go. I 
have no right to go. I will stay." Then 



THE BUGLE CALL 99 

we reasoned again, just as we did yester- 
day, only with this difference — that now 
they were no longer cavilling, bnt seek- 
ing the trnth. 

So I stayed, and day after day found me 
in that tent, talking with those men. My 
invalid friend was evidently shaken in 
his belief, and trying earnestl}" to find 
the rio-ht way. I trust he did, for he 
was sincere ; but after my return from a 
short visit at home, the tents were gone, 
the pavilions occupied, and my patients 
all scattered. This man had been sent 
to his friends in Ehode Island, and from 
that time I have never heard of him. 
Yet there is within me a strong hope 
that I shall find him again, when I reach 
my home above, waiting to welcome me 
to the presence of his Saviour as well as 
my Saviour. 




CHAPTER VIII. 



IN THE PAVILIONS. 




HE season was now advan- 
cing, the tents were very cold, 
and great haste was behig made 
to get the men into the pavilions 
before the winter set in. 
Let me describe these pavilions, of 
which there were twenty. They were 
long, low, one-story barrack bnildings, 
divided into four apartments, each of 
which held twent}" beds ; and each room 
communicated witli the other rooms ; so 
that, when you entered the pavilion, you 
saw a long line of eighty beds, forty on 
either side. Sometimes we found it. 



THE BUGLE CALL. 101 

rather a formidable task to enter these 
rooms, and face those eighty men. The 
water was introduced into these build- 
ings, stoves were put up, and there was 
everything in them that the men needed 
for their comfort. 

Now our work began to be systema- 
tized. To each kitchen was assigned 
the care of five pavilions. Of course 
we could go into the others when we 
liked, and vv^e did do so constantly; but 
for these five we were expected to pro- 
vide delicacies. The men who had been 
with me in Jenkins' tent when he died 
were mostly assigned to one pavilion, 
and there I was alwaj^s welcome. In- 
deed, that event had helped us ladies 
very much in oui* work with the men ; 
for they said that a woman who was not 
afraid to go out at ten o'clock at night 
with strange men, to see and pray with 
a dying man, must be a good woman, 



102 THE BUGLE CALL. 

and they would at least respect such 
ladies. 

One of the men who came after me 
on that night, I discovered, had, ever 
since that event; thought deeply, but 
could find no light, and was now sad 
and dejected. I said to him one day, 
"Why do you hesitate any longer, 

C ? What is standing in your way? 

Why do you not accept Christ at once? 
He is willing." " I cannot ; I wish from 
my heart I could.'' And so days passed 
on, and I could get no clew to the real 
difficulty that lay in his way. But one 
night the secret was told. I found that 
after the men had been removed into 
the pavilions, they had not the courage 
to kneel in prayer before their comrades, 
as they would be laughed at, and often 
have things flung at them while on their 
knees. In the summer they had been 
able to go and pray upon the seashore, 



THE BUGLE CALL. 103 

or behind the rocks; but it was a differ- 
ent thing, this kneeling before thirty or 
forty of their comrades, who were ready 
to sneer and jeer ; some joining loudly 
in the sneers to drown the voice of con- 
science within them, which was whis- 
pering, "Go thou and do likewise;'' 
"Take up thy cross and follow me." Yet, 
alas, they had not the courage to kneel 
beside these moral heroes. It was a 
hard thing to do, and did require a great 
degree of moral courage ; but we found 
that while they were not brave enough 
to take this stand, but skulked behind, 
saying their prayers in bed, trying to 
ease their consciences in this way, they 
did not find Christ. 

"Mrs. B ," he said, " I cannot do 

this ; I am not brave enough ; I would 
rather be drawn up in line of battle, and 
flice the enemy." "You are hdng an 
enemy," I replied, "and a more power- 



104 THE BUGLE CALL. 

fill enemy than any earthly one. You 
are facing the powers of darkness, and 
the struggle is between you and Satan. 
He will not let you kneel if he can 
help it, for he does not want you to be- 
come a subject of the King of kings.'' 
"Do you not think I can be a Christian 
without it? " "I fear not. This a sort 
of providential test; and while 3^ou are 
unwilling to take this step, I do not be- 
lieve you will find the Saviour. What 
would you think of a soldier who was 
not brave enough to own before the en- 
emy that he belonged to the opposing 
army ? Would you not say he was too 
cowardly to be in the ranks? Now how 
do you suppose jour Saviour feels when 
he sees you too cowardl}^ to own that 
you want to light under his banner?" 
No answer could be made to this, nor 
could I prevail. 

One mornino* he came to me and said, 



THE BUGLE CALL. 105 

*'I have sometlimg to tell you.'' I saw 
there was an unusual light on his pleas- 
ant countenance." ''Well, what is it?'' 
"I have done it, I liaxe done it. And 
now I know that I am the Lord's. But 
what a fearful night I have had of it. I 
hope I may never pass such another. I 
could not kneel in the pavilion, and I 
dared not go to bed Avithout kneeling. 
So I went out and passed almost all 
night on the shore, amid the rocks. I 
looked up to the stars, and I seemed 
alone with God. Then I cried out in an 
agony of entreaty that God would help 
me to do my duty. I knelt down behind 
the rocks, and he seemed to hear me as 
I told him that if he would help me I 
would do it. Then I went back and 
kneeled right down before all the boys 
who were still awake. But the struggle, 
the dreadful struggle is over now, and I 
know I can do it again." 



106 THE BUGLE CALL. 

The result was as I had supposed ; 
now came the peace ; and greatly he 
helped nie in my work, having an in- 
tense desire to lead others to Christ. 

But before I speak of his work for 
others, I must quote from a letter he 
received from his mother ; and none can 
wonder that the son of such a mother 
found Jesus : 

"I feel very grateful to the lady you 
speak of, who is devoting her time and 
talents to bringing souls to Jesus. She 
vv^ill receive a great reward ; if not in 
this life, in heaven. After I experi- 
enced the love of God in my heart, I 
grew cold, and the neglect of secret 
])rayer was the cause of my coldness. 
Tliis is the true life of piety. Without it, 
every grace in the soul must droop and 
die. Be strict in the duty of prayer ; 
never neglect a known duty ; study 
your Bible, to know what that duty is. 



THE BUGLE CALL. 107 

I do hope you will go right forward in 

the faithful performance of every duty." 

Now he worked with all his soul to 

save those around him. "Mrs. B ,'' 

he said, " could you not some time talk 

with D ? He says you shall not 

speak to him ; for if you do, he believes 
he must become a Christian. He runs 
wdienever you enter our pavilion." "I 
will not forget," I replied. One day, 
entering the pavilion, I was greeted with 
a loud burst of laughter from all sides. 
It seemed entirely uncontrollable, yet it 
embarrassed me very much. As soon 

as they could compose themselves, C 

stepped forward, saying, "Do not think, 

Mrs. B , we are laughing at you ; 

but w^e all shave each other here, and I 
was shaving D . I had only fin- 
ished half of his face ; and when he 
heard your step, he bounded away as if 
an enemy was in pursuit of him, and 



108 THE BUGLE CALL. 

now lie is outside, vrilli his face half- 
shaved.'' " He need not have been 
afraid," I replied; "I had not the 
slightest intention of speaking to him." 
''Shall you never speak to him?" was 
the anxious inquiry. "I will," I replied, 
"when God makes the way clear, not 
before." 

Day after day passed away, and final- 
ly he became so used to ra}^ presence 
that he would not run from me. Still I 
did not make any effort to speak to him, 
though speaking to all the rest of the 
boys in the pavilion. He began to be 
annoyed at my neglect, it seemed so 
marked. Still 1 passed him every day 
with a pleasant "Good morning." noth- 
ing more. He tried to put himself in 
my way, but I appeared not to notice. 
Finally, one day, I took my seat beside 

him, and said : "D , I shall leave 

the island to-morrow, for a little rest in 



THE BUGLE CALL. 109 

my own home. Probably you will bo 
ordered off before my return, and we 
shall never meet again ; but I could not 
leave the island until I told you what 
it was that brought me here to work 
for you soldiers." Then I told him of 
the sorrow God had put upon me, and 
that after twelve months of weary nurs- 
ing, until hope had died within me, God 
took from me one who was dearer than 
life itself; and how, when bidding me a 
last farewell, there was only one wish 
uttered, one dying message given," Work 
for Jesus, darling, work for Jesus." "And 

that, D ," said T, " is the reason 

why I am here. Do you wonder at it 
now?" When I had finished my narra- 
tive, the tears were coursing down his 
cheeks. " Xo, no. Tell me more ; and 
tell me all about Jesus' love." I did ; 
and he listened, his whole soul absorbed 
in the truths I was uttering. " Will you 



110 THE BUGLE CALL. 

not try?'' I said. "I will, I will ; but 
I have been so wicked, I doubt whether 
there is much hope for me." 

C watched this man's progress 

with almost a nervous anxiety, bringing 
me reports from him every day. I do 
hope he found the Saviour. While he 
remained with us he maintained a con- 
sistent walk, and after he left us I heard 
nothing but favorable accounts of him 
until I lost sight of him entirely. He 
formerly had called the Bible by every 
profane name he could utter ; but he 
learned that that Bible could give him a 
rest and joy that none of his infidel 
books had ever been able to give. 

In the same pavilion was another, 
who said he feared to speak to me lest I 
should "entice him into being a Chris- 
tian." "I can stand anything but moth- 
er ; if she will leave mother alone, I 
am safe." C informed me of this 



THE BUGLE CALL. Ill 

fact; and when my opportunity to speak 
came, I did plead by that mother's mem- 
or}^, and told him that mother's love, 
that mother's prayers, were the golden 
chain that bound him to heaven. But for 
those prayers, he w^ould doubtless have 
been beyond hope long since ; and God 
had sent me here in answer to her fer- 
vent supplications. I said, ''Gr , this 

is the cord that is indeed binding you to 
heaven ; but it is growing thinner each 
day. It is now only a single strand. 
Your wickedness has been so great that 
your hold on it is almost gone, and now 
there is but one delicate strand left ; are 
you going to cut that ? " He could not ; 
he dared not ; he wept at the thought of 
that dear mother's love, and then said, 
'•I will begin from this hour." "God 
help you," was all I could say. I un- 
derstood afterward that the moment I 
left the building he went to the stove, 



112 THE BUGLE CALL. 

pulled out a pack of cards marked ready 
for gambling, (for lie was a gambler,) 
and threw them in the fire, saying, 

" C , I could not have done this if 

she had not spoken of mother. I could 
not stand that.'' 

So God led us along day by day, each 
day guiding us, each day putting words 
in our mouths, until we literally felt it 
was not we that were speaking, but our 
"Father speaking in us."' 





CHAPTER IX. 




THE TWO DAVIDS. 

OMETIMES, after we were all 
equipped, witli our baskets fill- 
ed, ready to go out, our courage 
would fail, aud we w^ould feel as 
though we could never enter an- 
other pavilion. My dearest friend in the 
woi'k. who roomed with me, would often 
say, "I cannot go; oh, I cannot go!" 
One day I remember well, she came 
back and said, ''I believe I have not 
the courage to go this morning." "I 
am glad you feel so," was my reply, *'for 
my heart too seems to die within me at 
the thoudit of the work before us." Then 
we knelt and poured out our souls to- 



114 THE BUGLE CALL. 

getlier before G od, pleading for the power 
of the Holy Spirit to rest upon us ; and 
rising from our knees, went forth with 
fresh courage. 

We had often some young soldier ac- 
company us, carrying our baskets. I 
think it was that very morning that a 
young fellow, named Connor, carried 
mine. We had prayed God earnestly, 
that he would show us just the very man 
to whom we should speak. As we passed 
on our way, Connor said to a young man 
whom we met, "Holloa, David, how are 
you?'' "Good morning, David," I said . 
pleasantly. "Are you well?" "No; 
very sick, ma'am." "What is the mat- 
ter?" I asked, approaching him. "Oh, 
I do n't know exactly ; some disease I 
believe contracted in the swamps of the 
Ohickahominy. I do not think I am long 
for this world, ma'am." 

It was a bleak morning, and I should 



THE BUGLE CALL. 115 

not have permitted liim to stand and 
talk; but tlie Spirit of God seemed to 
lead me on. " Well," I said, " David, I 
hope yon are a Christian, and do not fear 
meeting death." A broken sob almost 
choked him. "Oh no, ma'am. I was 
once ; but I became very thoughtless, 
and all my religious impressions left me." 
"If you were a Christian once, are you 
not one still ? And if you are a wander- 
ing sheep that has strayed from the fold, 
ask the loving Shepherd to guide you 
back, and he will." " I am afraid I could 
not find the way back, it is so long since 
I wandered." " He will help you. You 
cannot find it alone." So we talked for 
perhaps half an hour, he weeping bitter- 
ly. At length I said, "David, go back 
to your pavilion. I am now going to the 
lower part of the island. On my way 
home I will stop in and see you again. 
And I will send a friend to read to you." 



116 THE BUGLE CALL. 

I then went to the pavilion where 

F was, and said, ''F , you must 

help me take care of a poor sick fellow ; 
you must read to him, talk with him, and 
help him to find the way back to the Sa- 
viour." I then went on my rounds, al- 
most forgetting David while laboring 
with others. On my return about Uvo 
hours later, as I passed David's pavilion, 
I thought I would stop in a moment and 
see him. As I entered the first ward, I 
found a man dying, who needed my care. 
While leaning over him, trying to do 

what I could for him, F approached 

me. " Mrs. B , make haste,'' he said, 

"make haste! David is dying !" "David 
dying ! why it is not two hours since I 
left him!" "Yes, ma'am, I guess he 
took cold while talking with 3^ou, and 
now lie is dying." Could it be ? and was 
lie to die without hope ? 

I approached his bedside. He appear- 



THE BUGLE CALL 117 

ed to be in great agony, and 3^et there 
seemed to be no horror of death before 
him. "David, I am sorry to see you 
suffering so." " Yes, ma'am, but it is all 
right. Jesus is close to me ; I have 
found the way back. I am in the fold. 
Oh, how thankful I am that you met me 
this morning. If you had not, I might 
have died without hope ; now all is peace, 
peace! I have no fears." Surely God 
had taught me that day just to which man 
to speak. I lingered by his side a few 
moments, scarcely understanding the sud- 
den change. In one short hour, the spir- 
itual life quickened and matured into full 
growth, and the natural life drooping and 
expiring. Jesus had not left his child 
long in the darkness. Doubtless he had 
been His through all these years of wan- 
dering. Still I could not but wonder at 
the perfect rest this tired wanderer had 
so'soon found in Jesus' love. "David,'' 



118 THE BUGLE CALL. 

I said, "shall I leave you, to go to a dy- 
ing man in the next ward, who needs me 
more than you ? Shall I go to him ?" 
" Oh yes, go. Do not wait a single mo- 
ment. Jesus is with me. Do go, and 
help the other poor dying man to find 
him." 

So I went and stood over the first 
deathbed, watching the soul passing to 
the other world. But little could be 
done for him, except to commend him 
into the hands of a merciful God. The 
end was too near, to seek Christ now, if 
he had not done so before. "In the 
place where the tree falleth, there it 
shall be." Eccl. 11:3. I left him before 
the struggle was over. Human kindness 
was of no avail now ; he was treading 
that path which every human soul must 
tread alone — alone, unless accompanied 
by the presence of the unseen Saviour. 
Oh, how sad it was, to see one going out 



THE BUGLE CALL. 119 

thus alone, as we feared, and stand by 
perfectly po\Yerless to help. The next 
day I visited the pavilion again. The 
bed was empty, waiting for another oc- 
cupant ; the stretcher had been brought, 
and he who rested there yesterday was 
now quietly sleeping in the dead-house — 
a sleep from which no "bugle call" 
would ever arouse him again to fight the 
battles of his country — a sleep from 
which he would only awaken when sum- 
moned to answer the roll-call, in the 
presence of his Maker, at the great day 
of judgment. I passed on and found 
David more comfortable, still full of 
peace, but desiring if possible to reach 
his friends before he died. He was sent 
home, and lived to reach them ; but I 
believe, only survived a few days. God 
grant that he found the everlasting rest. 
Another David rises before me now, 
of quite a different character, and with 



120 THE BUGLE CALL. 

a very different history. One day, on 
entering Dr. D 's pavilion, (the doc- 
tor, who was so anxious lest his boys 
should not treat me well ; ah, he need 
not have feared, for but a few months 
had elapsed before the greatest desire of 
those boys' hearts became to pray him 
into the kingdom,) I saw a most dejected 
young man, with only one arm, sitting 
listlessly by the fire, looking slovenly 
and neglected. He must have been ori- 
ginally a fine looking man, but the air of 
languor about him, and the stooping 
shoulders, took away all appearance of 
manliness. "What is the matter," I 
said, " that you look so sad?'' " Oh, 1 
am tired, lonely and low-spirited." "I 
see you have lost an arm ; is that your 
trouble?" "No, ma'am, though I do 
suffer much with that; but that is the 
least part of my troubles ; I have sor- 
rows that I cannot speak of, and this list- 



THE BUGLE CALL. 121 

less life in the hospital I believe is kill- 
ing me.'' " Do not give way so/' I said ; 
"try to look on the bright side. Yon 
have lost your arm, to be sure ; but I 
know you would rather go without an 
arm all your Hfe, than not to have par- 
ticipated in this struggle. Perhaps your 
private troubles are not so heavy as they 
seem to you now, while you are rendered 
morbid by sickness; let me bring you 
some cheerful reading to divert your 
mind.'' "I cannot read; my eyes are 
too v/eak." Poor fellow, he was indeed 
to be pitied. What could I do for him. 
"Have you ever looked to Jesus for 
comfort?" "No, I am not a Christian, 
and do not feel even the energy to think 
about it." "It is worth thinking about, 
and will bring you a happiness that you 
never dreamed of." "Perhaps so; but 
I guess I do not care for it." 

Day after day I made little calls upon 



122 THE BUGLE CALL. 

him, ever trying to show what a cheerful 
religion could do. By-and-by, the Spirit 
of God came into that sad heart, and 
now he commenced seeking in earnest. 
All his languor left him ; his whole soul 
was aroused ; still he did not find Christ. 
One night he came to our '' ladies' kitch- 
en" to see me ; and then came the same 

confession that poor C had made. — 

the same cause was keeping him back — 
he could not kneel in the pavilion ; he 
feared not the laughter so much as the 
appearance of being better than he re- 
ally was ; for he was indeed a manly fel- 
low. "R ," I said, " this is getting 

to be a serious matter with you : this is 
the one thing that is keeping you away 
from Christ." "I cannot kneel ; do not 
ask me." "Are you willing to give up 
all hope of becoming Christ's, from this 
hour ?" " By no means ; but I can be a 
Christian without doing this." "I fear 



THE BUGLE CALL. 123 

you will not. The struggle is between 
you and the powers of darkness ; but you 
will find if you make the attempt, that 
there is One for you, stronger than all 
they that be against you." " I cannot." 

"Well, E , it seems to me as if I 

could this night see the powers of heaven 
and hell contending for your soul. I be- 
lieve this is the great crisis of your life, 
and if you yield to Satan, the hosts of 
hell will shout with joy, that one more 
soul is fettered for ever 5 and if jon are 
brave and take your stand this very 
night, the angels will strike their golden 
harps, and sing loud songs of thanksgiv- 
ing for another soul redeemed and safe 
in the kingdom." He was of a very im- 
aginative and poetic turn of mind, and 
this conversation seemed to impress him 
strongly. As he rose to go, I laid my 

hand upon him, and said, "0 R , 

do promise me. I believe this is to be 



124 THE BUGLE CALL. 

the turning point in your life.'' " I can- 
not ; it will be a fearful struggle." 

The next morning I saw him approach- 
ing, and my heart sank within me, for I 
feared he had not knelt, and perhaps 
never would. There was a subdued look 
about him that I had never seen before — 
not joyous, scarcely peaceful, but very 

solemn. "Mrs. B , I did it! Thank 

God, I had grace to do it ! I hope the 
angels sang their song of joy last night. 
But it was a fearful struggle. I feel like 
a man who has been in conflict all night." 
"Yes," I said, "and like wrestling Jacob, 
you have prevailed." "I am stronger 
now ; but still I walk timidly, fearfully." 

I believe the angels did sing songs of 
joy that night, for this new-born soul 
was one that was to wield a powerful 
sword against the enemy. He soon lost 
all languor and depression, honored his 
Saviour in evervthing he did, worked 



THE BUGLE CALL. 125 

night and clay to win souls to Christ, and 
was. powerful in prayer. After he left 
our island I followed him for years. It 
seemed as if the struggle with which 
he came into the kingdom helped to 
strengthen and develop all his Christian 
graces. He wrote me long and very 
pleasant letters ; there was a peculiar 
sort of a pathos about them, which I 
judged was caused by his private sor- 
rows, but they revealed the most beautiful 
Christian faith. I have many letters 
from him, speaking of his religious life in 
camp, so many that I hardly know from 
which to choose ; so I select the first.* 

After speaking of his longing for a 
higher Christian life in his soul, and his 
greater longings for the joys that w^ere 
to be revealed, he says, "Oh, how glo- 

* Let me here state that these letters are given hter- 
ally word for word. They are not my own composi- 
tion, but are copied- iDrecisely as I received them from 
the soldiers. 



126 THE BUGLE CALL. 

rious it will be, when the spirit, freed 
from all the clogging and afflicting weight 
of the flesh, shall wing its way upward 
into the pure regions of eternal joy and 
felicity, and never tire of the city of our 
God ] oh, how cheering the thought ! I 
would not give up my hope for worlds of 
wealth, empire, or dominion. This will 

probably satisfy you, Mrs. B , that I 

have peace in believing. If we do not 
believe, we receive no support or peace 
from anything. The enemy of souls tried 
hard to shake my faith in Christianity, 
but without the shadow of success. My 
faith is as strong in the power of salva- 
tion, and the evidences of my conversion, 
as it is in the fact of my being alive." 

" It is not hard to be faithful and stand 
by our profession, if we only use the 
means which are so plentifully provided 
for us, and ever held up to our view by 
our lovimr Saviour. Oh, how sweet to 



THE BUGLE CALL. 127 

lean on his strong arm for support, and 
to hear him whisper, in tender loving 
tones, ' Fear not, I am with thee even 
unto the end.' Then, wdien trouble comes 
like a rushing whirlwind, to look up, and 
see his smile, and rest securely in his 
bosom, saying, 'Thy w^ill, not mine, be 
done ;' ' Do that which seemeth to thee 
good.' What a support wdien our hopes 
baffled or long deferred, is the love of 
our dear Saviour. And when the soul 
which does not know his love, and is well 
nigh to despair, but turns to him with a 
full purpose of heart, how tenderly is it 
received ; all its wanderings forgotten, 
while a Father's blessing is freely be- 
stowed. Mrs. B , where should 

I have been, if he had not had compas- 
sion on me ?" 

June 6, 1864, I received a letter 
from him, which he had carried, partly 
written, in his pocket, through a leaden 



128 THE BUGLE CALL. 

shower. "For my own part, I have 
never felt less depressed in spirits ; but 
enjoy a sweet peace of mind, which is 
more to me than anything earth can 
give. Oh, to lean on the arm of Jesus, 
during the storm of shell and shot 
through which we have passed, is hap- 
piness indeed. What a Saviour is ours ! 
how tenderly he watches over his chil- 
dren, leading them in safe paths, and 
supporting them in every hour of need 
and trial. It is very seldom now that I 
pray for temporal benefits, although I 
trust I am thankful for them ; but I seem 
to be altogether employed in thinking of 
my soul's eternal welfare. My constant 
prayer is, ' Keep thou, God, m}^ soul 
from death, and let not sin have domin- 
ion over me.' ' Keep thou thy servant 
in the narrow way.' I have not felt 
concerned about my life— my only con- 
cern is for the immortal part. If I never 



THE BUGLE CALL. 129 

should write again," he says, in closing, 
" you will know I am prevented by some- 
thing beyond my control; and if death 
should call me to another world, rest as- 
sured of my trust in my Saviour, who 
said, ' I will that they whom thou hast 
given me, be with me, where I am.' 
This is enough for me. You will know 
where to look for me." 

Was not such a soul worth laboring 
many months to save? After a while 
his letters miscarried, and I lost all sight 
of him ; but if he still lives, I doubt not 
he is fighting bravely, under the banner 
of the great Captain of his salvation. 



'■>. 




'%?>&) 



Bugle Call. 




CHAPTER X. 




THE YOUNG PHYSICIAN. 

% 

^■^HEN the government ap- 
propriated Davids' Island 
for hospital purposes, I be- 
lieve there was but a single 
building upon it, and that a 
sort of a hotel or house of refreshment, 
used b}^ picnic parties in summer, the 
only use, I imagine, to which the island 
had been put. This was the very build- 
ing, I think, which we afterwards con- 
verted into a chapel for such of our men 
as wished to attend religious service, and 
by this time the number had become 
quite large. There were, as I have before 
stated, but few trees on the island, and 



THE BUGLE CALL. 131 

these few were near the spot where the 
chapel was located. Its situation was 
beautiful. It stood on rising ground at 
the lower extremity of the island. The 
little grove of trees in front of the build- 
ing gave it a picturesque appearance, 
while the background was nothing but 
a continuous line of heavy rocks, gradu- 
ally sloping to the water's edge. Many 
an afternoon have I wandered off to 
these rocks, there to sit and enjoy the 
beautiful scenery, or to ponder over the 
work Grod had given us to do. From the 
chapel windows the view was so charm- 
ing that I often during the service would 
find ray eyes unconsciously wandering 
to gaze on the beauties of nature as re- 
vealed from these windows. No sound 
was to be heard on that part of the isl- 
and after the chapel bell ceased ringing, 
and naught seemed to disturb the quiet 
of nature, excepting now and then some 



132 THE BUGLE CALL. 

little vessel lazily floating up the sound, 
or spreading lier canvas to catch the 
breeze. There never was a place that 
made one look more from nature up to 
nature's God. I think I never enjoyed 
religious services more than in that little 
chapel, and I certainly never enjoyed 
any singing as I did when we all joined 
in some soul-inspiring hymn, led by the 
sweet voice of one of our ladies, who also 
presided at the melodeon. I think God 
drew very near to us there. 

Our doctors, I am sorry to say, with 
some few exceptions, did not very often 
encourage us with their presence at our 
services. We ladies saw but little of 
them while on the island — never enter- 
ing the wards until after they had left ; 
and as a rule, we did not care to know 
them, for we had too much work to do 
for our sick boys to care to entertain 
gentlemen. Yet now my mind reverts 



THE BUGLE CALL. 133 

pleasantly to more tban one kind friend 
we made among those doctors, all of 
whom I believe learned to respect us 
and our work. One case only would I 
refer to among them. He was a bright 
young physician from B , and be- 
longed to one of the oldest families of 
that city. One day, meeting me on our 

steamer, he said, "Mrs. B , I feel 

yery hard towards jou ladies for the 
way you treat us doctors.'' " What 
have we clone?" I replied. ''Done! 
Why 3^ou take no notice of us at all. 
We too have left our homes, and are as 
lonely as the men. We have nothing 
to entertain us on this dull island, and 
you will not ask us to 3"our kitchens.'' 
''Well," I said pleasantly, "we do not 
mean to ask you either, and we do not 
wish you ; we have too much to do for 
our sick men to care to entertain gentle- 
men, and we did not come to Davids' 



134 THE BUGLE CALL. 

Island for that. Do you know what we 

came for, Dr. P ?" ''I think there 

is no mistaking what yon and Miss L 

[my co-worker] came for. I believe you 
came for nothing but your missionary 
work ; but I do not think it is right or 
kind." "Well," I said, "we have no 
means of entertaining gentlemen ; but if 
it will give you any pleasure, come, and 
we will do our best to make your visit 
agreeable." From that time he and I 
became fast friends. 

I had prayed God earnestly that I 
might do some good by my conversa- 
tions while on the steamer going to and 
from New York. One day, not long 

after this. Dr. P took a seat by me 

on the deck of the steamer while I was 
enjoying the scenery. I do not know 
how it came about, except that God 
ordered it, but our conversation turned 
upon the subject of religion, and I dis- 



THE BUGLE CALL. 135 

covered that he was a Unitarian. I 
could not help expressing my regret that 
he had left the dear Saviour out of his 
religion, and thus lost the most of its joy. 
Our conyersation was an earnest one, 
and he opened his heart freely to me, 
and I found Unitarianism had not fully 
satisfied him. I prayed God to help me, 
and tried to make him realize how dif- 
ferent a thing religion was with or with- 
out the sustaining presence of the divine 
Saviour. When we reached the island 
he thanked me warmly for the conver- 
sation ; and afterwards, in speaking to 
one of our ladies, he said, "I do not 
know how I happened to open my heart 
so freely to her." Doubtless the Saviour 
intended taking possession of that warm, 
manly young heart, and he led the way. 
Soon after this he entered the navy, 
and we heard no more from him, until, 
much to my surprise, I learned that he 



136 THE BUGLE CALL. 

was very ill, probably in hasty con- 
sumption, and would be taken to liis own 
home in B . This was sad news in- 
deed, and I immediately resolved to 
write him. I was told by one of our 
doctors that his family did not wish him 
to know his true condition, and that I 
must be very careful how I worded my 
letter. So I wrote of nothing but the 
love of the dear Saviour, and how he 
came to his children in their hour of 
need, as I had seen him come in cases of 
sickness and death in my own home. It 
was full of Jesus — " Jesus only.'' I en- 
closed it in a letter to his mother, leav- 
ing it at her own discretion whether he 
should hear it read or not. Soon I re- 
ceived a reply from her, thanking me 
for my letters and my interest in her 
son. She said, " When your letter came 

I did not think best to let H hear 

it ; but he saw me reading it, and said. 



THE BUGLE CALL. 137 

'Mother, whom is that letter from?' 

'Mrs. B ,' was the reply, 'to me.' 

'Strange, mother, she should not have 

written to me.' 'She did, H , but I 

cannot give it to you. I do not wish 
you to be agitated by reading.' ' I must 
have it, mother ; it is my own, give it to 
me.' He read and reread," she said, 
"ever seeming to find great comfort in 
it." No further word came, until this 
from his afflicted mother: "Our dear 
one is with the angels. On Friday af- 
ternoon he left us for his heavenly home. 
His sufferings have been great from the 
first ; but he was so patient, not a mur- 
mur escaped his lips." She gives a full 
account of his last moments, and makes 
mention of his sister's saying to him : 

"H , you are not afraid, for you 

love Jesus, and are going to him." 
"Yes, oh yes," was the reply. It was 
all he could say, for speech failed him. 



138 THE BUGLE CALL. 

Some months after, this sister called 
upon me in my own home, saying she 
should never cease to thank God for 
sending her brother to Davids' Island, 
and for giving me the desire to speak to 
him. " How you helped him," she said. 
" I was the only Trinitarian in the whole 
family, and my great anxiety was for 
my loved brother. I believe it was 
your influence that led him to accept the 
Saviour, for he did accept him entirely, 
and just before he passed away he said, 
' I want you all to understand I am not 
dying a Unitarian, but a Trinitarian.' " 

During the past summer I visited his 
home, and wept with those who wept for 
their beautiful young brother cut down 
in his youth ; wept as they pointed out 
to me the garden in which he had wan- 
dered, and the chamber from which he 
had gone home to heaven ; and I shed 
tears of joy too, that G.od had not only 



THE BUGLE CALL. 



139 



permitted me to work with tbe soldiers, 
but liad led me that winter's morning 
on the steamer to speak to this lovely 
young man those words which, perhaps, 
had opened to him the gates of everlast- 
ing life. Thank God in every way for 
our Davids' Island work ! 





CHAPTEE XI. 

FAREWELL TO THE ISLAND. 




WOULD not convey to my 
reader the impression that such 
incidents as have been related 
in this little narrative were pe- 
culiar to my work, or came only under 
my own observation. Our whole band 
of workers were very faithful ; and if I 
were permitted to relate the experiences 
of my fellow- workers, they would doubt- 
less be quite equal in interest to any- 
thing that I met. 

But now my work at Davids' Island 
was drawino; to a close. For various 



THE BUGLE CALL. 141 

reasons I concluded it was best tbat I 
should return to my home. Most of our 
soldiers were now being sent either to 
their homes or back to their regiments, 
and our hospital was being filled with 
our "prisoners of war." Shortly before 
my departure, one of our ladies came to 
me, saying, " Such a man, in such a pa- 
vilion, wishes to see you. He says you 
have been the means of his conversion." 
'' It is a mistake," I replied. " 1 do not 
know him, and have never conversed 
with any such person." " Well, per- 
haps not ; but he says it was you." That 
morning, while on my usual round of 
visits, I entered the pavilion where he 
was lying. " Good morning, my friend," 
I said ; " I am very glad to come in and 
see you, but I am not the lady you re- 
ferred to." " Oh yes you are." " You 
are mistaken, my friend ; I never saw 
you before." "You did, and your one 



142 THE BUGLE CALL. 

conversation with me has been the 
means of my conversion.'' I did not 
like to contradict him, yet I was so as- 
sured of his mistake that I felt it was 
not honorable to. take the credit of hav- 
ing helped him, when doubtless it would 
bring joy to the heart of some other 
lady to see the results of her work. " I 
would be most happy, ray friend, to 
have been the means of leading you to 
a better life ; but I am so sure of never 
having met you before, that I should 
really like to know to which of the 
ladies you have reference.'' "Yourself, 
and only yourself. What can I do to 
convince you ? If I should show you a 
Testament with my name and your name 
written by your own hand, and a text of 
Scripture marked, which text has been 
the means of my conversion, would you 
then'be satisfied ? " The Testament was 
produced. The handwriting was my 



THE BUGLE CALL. 143 

own, it could not be questioned. I could 
doubt no longer. " You once addressed 
me, on passing through our pavilion, 
gave me this Testament, and never spoke 
to me after that. I often wondered why 
3^ou did not do so, but I had not the 
courage to address you." "Ah, my 
friend, you have made a great mistake," 
I replied. "I would have been only too 
happy to have spoken again. My mem- 
ory is good for faces ; but is it strange 
that, among two thousand men, I cannot 
always remember which are my own 
patients ? " How the little leaven had 
worked, and what cause of gratitude had 
I ! Only one brief conversation, and 
that to have been the means of the 
man's conversion ! "I am going home," 
he said, "to a Christian wife, and how 
happy this good news will make her ! " 

"So is the kingdom of Grod, as if a 
man should cast seed into the ground, 



144 THE BUGLE CALL. 

and should sleep and rise night and day, 
and the seed should spring and grow up 
he knoweth not how." Mark 4 : 26, 27. 
It was the work of the Holy Spirit, and 
that was all we could say. 

In this place let me state that such 
conversions as these that took place in 
our army were not models of conversion 
for all times and places. God was fitting 
men for a peculiar work. Many of them 
felt that death was very near, that time 
was short, and what they had to do for 
their soul's salvation they must do at 
once and surely. Many of them were 
men of great decision of character, ac- 
customed to decide quickly, and act at 
once on their decisions ; and their inter- 
est once awakened, they brought the 
same promptitude into the matter of re- 
ligion. And, on the other hand, I have 
never supposed that all those men who 
were thus emotionally excited to begin 



THE BUGLE CALL. 145 

a new life, held out faithfully to the end. 
Doubtless some seed only fell b}^ the 
wayside, and the fowls of the air came 
and devoured it up ; some on stony 
ground, which had not much depth, and 
when the sun was up it was scorched, and 
because it had no root it withered away ; 
and some fell among thorns, and the 
thorns grew up and choked it, and it 
yielded no fruit ; but, thank God, some 
fell on good ground, and did yield 
fruit ; that sprang up, and increased, 
and brought forth, some thirty, some 
sixty, some a hundred fold. Mark 4 : 4. 
And, doubtless, at the last great day, 
while we shall find some missing whom 
we expected and hoped to see, we shall 
also find some like this poor man, in 
whom the seed has taken root and 
sprung up so noiselessly that we did not 
even recognize its existence. May we, 
then, have the consciousness that ''we 

Evisle Call. 10 



146 THE BUGLE CALL. 

did what we could " to help on this glo- 
rious work. 

About this time I left the island, and 
returned to my own home, occasionally, 
however, going back to spend a few 
days in cheering my old patients who 
were still left. 

Sometimes wdien I would enter a pa- 
vilion where I was pretty well known, it 
was refreshing to see the look of joy 
that welcomed me, and how quickly all 
dejection would pass from the counte- 
nances of those tried men. My old friend 

C , one of the first fruits of my work 

on the island, was still there, retained 
as wardmaster in one of the pavilions 
in which were our "prisoners of war." 

"Mrs. B ," he said to me one day, 

"wont you come in and see some of my 
sick boys?" "I cannot," I replied; "my 
work here, vou know, has been to nurse 
our own soldiei's, not the Southerners. 



THE BUGLE CALL. 147 

Do not ask it of me." "I know you 
well eiioiigli to be certain that if I could 
get you in my pavilion once, you w^ould 
not go out until you had learned not 
only to pity, but to love, some of those 
poor boys. Do come in." How could I 
refuse? He did know me well enough, 
and I knew mj^self so well that I did 
not want to go in, fully realizing that my 
sympathies would all be roused at the 
sight of suffering. 

Two there were in whom he took an 
especial interest, and with those he de- 
sired me to converse. Both were very 
young, and both suffering much. One 
had been obliged to have his leg ampu- 
tated. Poor lads, they grieved as much 
as we did that this dreadful struggle 
was so separating our people, and longed 
as we did to see it soon come to an 
end. They seemed much interested in 
the simple story of Christ's love, as 



148 THE BUGLE CALL. 

I always told it, and promised to try 
and lead a Christian life, C promis- 
ing to help them. He was right; for 
when I left them, my heart had warmed 
to them, and I forgot they were south- 
ern soldiers, only remembering that they 
were suffering men, and needing a Sav- 
iour. Oh, how quickly does the love of 
the dear Saviour in the heart break 
down all the barriers which keep men 
apart ! I would like to quote a few lines 
from a letter received some time after- 
wards from my friend C , the ward- 
master : "The young men you were 
talking with when here last have left. 
They wished to be remembered to you. 

McGr was very sick after you were 

here. His leg had to be amputated 
again. I was so sorry for him. Almost 
every day he would inquire of me when 
' that lady ' was coming again. He was 
almost well when he left. W. ^Y • 



THE BUGLE CALL. 149 

improved so much that he could walk 
all around the island. His father came 
to see him, and he is soon to go home. 

Mrs. B , I could not help loving the 

boys if they were 'secesh,' and I know 
they both loved me, for they cried like 
children when they bade me good-by." 
So it w^as. The peace of God in these 
hearts had broken down all distinction 
between North and South. May this 
sweet spirit of peace continue to be 
poured out until all bitterness shall have 
passed away for ever, and our wdiole na- 
tion shall be one in Christ Jesus. 



^/m 




CHAPTEE XII. 



CONCLUSION. 




ND now I must bid farewell 
to my patient reader, only 



^rr{/^f^ hoping that this little book 
-^^^r^ may give him half the pleas- 
ure in reading that it has the 
writer in preparing it. I have made no 
apology in bringing it before the public, 
and intend making none. It is only a 
simple recital of facts, entirely true, as 
God permitted me to see and take a part 
in them. I send it forth in great weak- 
ness, but trusting in His power to make 
it effectual to the salvation of souls. If, 



THE BUGLE CALL. 151 

when I reach my home in glory, I shall 
meet one single soul that has been 
helped there by this little volume, I 
shall be abundantly compensated for my 
labor ; and yet I pray, "God grant that 
it may not be one, but many ; " and to 
His name shall be all the glory. 

Still one more desire there is that 
rests heavily upon my heart, to which I 
would give utterance before I close. It 
is that others may be encouraged by 
this simple statement of facts to work 
for the dear Saviour. There is no work 
that compensates as does this. Other 
things are unsatisfying ; this, never. 

Do not misunderstand me. I do not 
say that we never grew wearied, nay, at 
times, almost discouraged ; yet there 
ever came to us such a sustaining feel- 
ing, as the grandeur of the work stood 
out before us ; such a sense of the small- 
ness of the thin":s of this "life, and the 



152 THE BUGLE CALL. 

greatness of eternal things ; the honor, 
to worms of the dust like ourselves, of 
being permitted to lead souls into 
Christ's kingdom ; that we were filled 
with a joy unspeakable. Sometimes w^e 
went through very trying scenes, yet 
never did we for a single instant wish 
we had not undertaken the work. We 
only wondered why, when so few women 
had been called to this glorious privilege, 
we should have been permitted to be- 
long to that favored few. For myself, I 
can truly say that I would rather have 
the most sacred memories of my whole 
life blotted out than the remembrance of 
those few months spent in preaching the 
gospel to my suffering and dying coun- 
trymen. 

Sometimes, after passing through some 
peculiarly trying scene, the question 
would arise for an instant in my heart, 
"Is this proper work for refined and 



THE BUGLE CALL. 153 

delicate women ? " I would pause, and 
there would seem to come a voice almost 
from heaven, saying, "He that taketh 
not up his cross and followeth after me, 
is not worthy of me." How well do I 
remember one time, when there were 
many souls who appeared to be just hes- 
itating as to whether they would decide 
for Christ, and I felt that they needed 
my presence almost every hour to 
strengthen their weak resolutions ; and 
yet God laid me for a few days on a 
bed of sickness. Never did impatient 
child, longing for its promised pleasure, 
chafe under its delay as did I at being 
kept away from my sick patients. I 
could not trust them with God, but felt 
that I was necessary to the work, and 
every hour seemed an age. He taught 
me patience ; yet never did I rise from 
any sick bed to engage in worldly 
amusement, with half the joy that I re- 



154 THE BUGLE CALL. 

turned to that which would seem to one 
untaught of the Spirit nothing but a 
weary round of hospital duties, but 
which was in reality work like that 
which the Son of God came down to do, 
and a privilege beyond all estimation. 
One lady there was in our number who 
talked but little, though she felt much. 
She became exceedingly interested in a 
very sick man, and labored earnestly 
for his salvation. After many weeks of 
patient waiting, she entered my room 
one day, and throwing her arms around 
my neck, burst into tears. Quite sur- 
prised at seeing her thus lose her self- 
control, I inquired what was the matter. 
"Oh, the joy, the joy," she ejaculated, 
"that God has given to me this day. 

E , I doubt not, has at last become a 

Christian; and he says, through God's 
blessing, it is owing to my labors. What 
have I done that I should be thus 



THE BUGLE CALL. 155 

blest? Never have I had a joy that 
equalled this." This was the language 
of a most lovely and attractive woman, 
who had had earth's richest blessings 
laid at her feet. 

I know many are timid and fearful ; 
but fear not ; God will give you courage 
and grace, if you will but commence 
the work. One such I knew, who said, 
" I can nurse, but I can neither speak 
nor pray ; it is impossible." One day I 
I urged upon her strongly the necessity 
of addressing the men on the subject of 
personal religion. "I cannot; do not 
urge it." I said, "He that taketh not 
his cross and followeth after me is not 
worthy of me." Matt. 10 : 36. I pressed 
the matter strongly. She went back to 
the hospital that afternoon, and in a day 
or two came to me saying, "Thank God, 
you made me promise that day to speak. 
When I returned to the hospital, God 



156 THE BUGLE CALL. 

opened my moiitli, and I spoke earnest- 
ly. That man is now seeking Christ, 
and oh, how happy am I ! " 

Many souls since has she helped to 
Jesus ; and never since has she ceased 
to thank God for enabling her that af- 
ternoon to resolve to take up her cross 
and follow him. 

I speak not now of the future, only 
of the present compensation the work 
brings. Undertake it, timid child of God, 
at once. Go forth in his name, and the 
power of his might. Fear nothing. He 
will give you grace. Trust to him, not 
to yourself, and you will be surprised to 
see how soon the gifts and graces of the 
Spirit will fall upon you, and how easy 
that will become which now looks so dif- 
ficult ; and you will find a joy in this 
work which you never have found in 
any other. 

Then think of the reward ! Oh, the 



THE BUGLE CALL. 157 

glorious reward of reaching your home, 
and finding some awaiting to welcome 
3"ou who might never have been there 
but for your efforts! Then, when you 
realize what the joy of life everlasting 
is, what a crown of rejoicing will this be 
to you ! And oh, the joy unspeakable of 
hearing him say, "Inasmuch as ye have 
done it unto one of the least of these, ye 
have done it unto me. Well done, good 
and faithful servant ; enter thou into the 
joy of thy Lord." Think you not then 
you will cast your golden crown in self- 
abasement low at his feet, and thank 
him for the privilege of leading sinners 
home to glory? 

Christian, take this joy which stands 
waiting for you. Hesitate no longer to 
take up a work which angels might envy 
the privilege of doing, and yet which 
may be yours if you will but accept it. 
Souls are perishing, men are dying ev- 



158 THE BUGLE CALL. 

erywliere. Only look about you ; you 
will soon find work enough to do. God 
help you to resolve at once to be a co- 
worker with Christ. This little volume 
will not have been written in vain, nor 
this "Bugle Call" sounded for naught, 
if it helps one timid soul to commence 
the w^ork, "looking unto Jesus, the au- 
thor and finisher of our faith, who, for 
the joy that was set before him, endured 
the cross, despising the shame, and is 
now set down at the right hand of the 
throne of God." Heb. 12 : 2. 



The Song of a Tired ^eryant, 

"One more day's work for Jesus! " 
One less of life for me ! 

But heaven is nearer, 

And Christ is dearer, 
Than yesterday to me ; 

His love and light 

Fill all my soul to-night. 



THE BUGLE CALL. 159 

*' One more day's work for Jesus ! " 
How glorious is mj King ! 
'Tis joy, not duty, 
To speak liis beauty ; 
My soul mounts on the wing 
At the mere thought 
How Christ her life hath bought. 

"One more day's work for Jesus ! " 
Sweet, sweet the work has been 

To tell his story. 

To show the glory 
Where Christ's flock enter in ; 

How it did shine 

In this poor heart of mine ! 

"One more day's work for Jesus ! " 
In hope, in faith, in j^rayer, 

His word I 've spoken, 

His bread I 've broken 
To souls faint with despair ; 

And bade them flee 

To him who hath saved me. 

'' One more day's work for Jesus ! '* 
Yes, and a weary day ; 

But heaven shines clearer, 
And rest comes nearer 
At each step of the way ; 
And Christ is all ; 
Before his face I fall. 



160 



THE BUGLE CALL. 



Oh, blessed work for Jesus ! 
Oh, rest at Jesus' feet ! 

There toil seems pleasure. 

My wants a treasure, 
And pain for him looks sweet ; 

Lord, if I may, 

I '11 serve another day. 




l/\ jKf wo N D E li P li L, ^ 
U^:\^^ COUNSEL LOR, Ifil 
,^ MIGHTY COD, 
SEverlasting Falhs 



